BY BALFORD HENRY—
Observer senior reporter—
(From left) Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett; Prime Minister Andrew Holness; Buju Banton; and Joe Bogdanovich, CEO of DownSound Entertainment, promoters of Reggae Sumfest, at the event held at Catherine Hall Entertainment Centre in Montego Bay, St James, last Saturday. —
PRINCIPAL of Reggae Sumfest, Joe Bogdanovich, said all the necessary changes are already being made to ensure better accommodation for patrons at the 2020 staging.
“We have already started planning for Sumfest 2020, and our top priority will be to ensure safety and comfort of our patrons, so that they are able to enjoy the experience of The Greatest Reggae Festival on Earth to the fullest,” he told the Jamaica Observer.
Bogdanovich’s apology followed some negative comments from some of the patrons who were at Catherne Hall for the last nights of the annual festival, which saw a record huge crowd, which created logistics nightmares for the promoters.
The week-long festival ran from July 14 to 20.
While the entertainment package was well received, the overcrowding left a bad taste in some of the audience members’ mouth.
Responding to their comments, Bogdanovich acknowledged that there would have been some discomfort from the huge overflow, but assured the fans that every effort would be made to ensure that this doesn’t happen next year.
“It’s with great joy and pride that I thank my team, the sponsors, artistes and the directors of Reggae Sumfest for having what it takes to continue to support our great home-grown music festival. But explosive growth challenges do come with demands and heavy responsibility.
“In this 27th staging and fourth year since purchasing and running the festival, we saw what was tantamount to the largest crowds in history. And we would like to say thank you for the many thousands of patrons from overseas and locally that came to support our Music, Our Festival.
“With a festival of this magnitude, the exponential growth achieved is still an actual part of the work in progress, and next year we will continue to grow and improve this festival,” it read.
He said that plans are being developed for better parking and for improved capacity facilities.
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