The popular Reggae festival Red Stripe Reggae Sumfest is scheduled for July, but there is no final word yet on the artiste line-up for the event.
The huge event, which attracts thousands of international visitors yearly, has not yet completed the usually lengthy artiste line-up which would stretch for the week long festival of shows.The promotions company lists on its website Elephant Man, Capleton, Luciano, Morgan Heritage, and Akon as their confirmed acts, and checks with them this past Thursday revealed that no final acts were chosen yet.
Tina Davis, a representative of Sumfest Promotions, told THE STAR recently that the list of performers is not yet complete, but that they should make announcements by the end of this month.
Dancehall night
There has been considerable talks recently about who the acts for the show's dancehall night will be, in light of the sponsor's recent stance in regard to the music.
Red Stripe is a member of a coalition of corporate companies which include Cable and Wireless, Digicel, J Wray and Nephew, the Jamaica Tourist Board and others. This group recently announced that they would not sponsor any event where certain dancehall acts perform, or where certain lyrics are performed or played.
Davis confirmed that Sumfest Promotions has been having meetings with Red Stripe to straighten out the artiste list, but added that nothing was final as yet. She promised an announcement soon.
THE STAR contacted Red Stripe for comment on their stance about the issue, but up to press time, the communications department did not respond to our queries.
