MORGAN HERITAGE, TANYA STEVENS, LEAD THE 12TH ANNUAL REGGAE FESTIVAL IN OSTRO’DA, POLAND!

The town of Ostróda, known as the pearl of the north eastern Masurian Lake District, will become a reggae Mecca, Thursday, with the start of the Reggae Festival.

Music fans will have the chance to indulge themselves in the sounds of reggae, dub, dancehall, ska and reggaeton, enjoying a line up of over 50 international artists gracing three stages over the next four days.

Some of the biggest headliners this year include Jamaican Tanya Stephens, Rod Taylor, Morgan Heritage, and British group Dreadzone, not to mention Polish artists Vavamuffin, Junior Stress, and Maleo Reggae Rockers.

The festival will end with a performance by an act coming all the way from New Zealand, Fat Freddy’s Drop, offering a unique blend of reggae, funk, jazz and electronica.

A number of sideline events awaits those willing to explore Jamaican culture in other spheres, as the four-day reggae feast will also host commemorations marking 50 years of Jamaican independence, held under the patronage of Berlin-based Jamaican Ambassador to Germany, Joy Wheeler, and the honorary consul of Jamaica in Poland, Maria Dembowska.

To mark the occasion, Saturday will see a number of attractions such as meetings with Jamaican officials, representatives of the Jamaica Tourist Board, alongside journalist and pioneer of promoting the country’s culture in Poland, Włodzimierz Kleszcz.

Also in the programme is the screening of Kevin McDonald’s acclaimed documentary on the life of Jamaica’s most renowned child, Bob Marley.

There will also be a series of lectures at “the Reggae University” which will take place at the town’s amphitheatre, giving spectators the opportunity to acquaint themselves with the history of the island, from the times of the Sarawak Indians, through the period of colonialism and slavery under British rule, up to gaining independence in 1962.

The final phase of a quiz contest on all things Jamaican, launched via social networking website Facebook, will be held during the festival.

The winners of the competition will get to travel to popular resort city of Montego Bay with tickets sponsored by the Jamaican Tourist Board.

For the past twelve years, the festival has been the largest reggae event in Poland, drawing some of the biggest names in the Polish Jamaican-inspired music scene, but also acts from across the world, among them Stephen Marley, the son of the legendary Bob.