Fri 8/9-Sun 8/11
The Mid-West ReggaeFest is back home.
Last year, promoter Packy Malley tried an experiment, moving the event from Portage County’s Nelson Ledges Quarry Park to Whiskey Island just off downtown Cleveland.
The experiment didn’t work. ReggaeFest fans missed the opportunity to camp for he weekend, to swim in the quarry, and chill around their campfires. So for its 22nd year, it’s back at Nelson Ledges.
Music kicks off at 6 Friday evening with a low-key show featuring DJs, the Pinstripes, and the Flex Crew.
The heavy hitters perform on Saturday, with live music starting at 1:30 with Cleveland’s Outlaws I&I, followed by Pitsburgh’s One World Tribe, Cleveland’s Carlos Jones & the P.L.U.S. Band, Blue Riddim from Kansas City, Missouri, Marty Dread from Hawaii, and finally at 10 pm, Jamaican reggae star Yellowman.
Things wind down on Sunday with gospel music from 11:30 to 1 pm, Jamaican band Culture featuring Kenyatta Hill — the son of Culture founder Joseph Hill who died in 2006 — from 1-2:30 pm, and the Columbus-based Ark Band from 3:30-5 pm.
Advance tickets for the whole weekend (which are available through Thursday evening at the ABC Taverns in Ohio City and University Circle and XYZ Tavern in Gordon Square) are $90. They’re $100 at the gate. They include Friday and Saturday camping. Saturday tickets are $75; they include Saturday night camping, and Saturday and Sunday music. Sunday tickets are $25. Kids under 12 are free.
http://www.midwestreggaefest.com/