Retreat | #WWMFJA2015

Irie Magazine | Retreat - WWMFJA2015

Written By: Tami Tsansai

Photography By: Matthew Henry

#WWMFJA2015

Just over six years ago, before the Reggae Revival movement began, a virtually unknown band of starry eyed, frustrated, reggae musicians conceptualised an event. The young hopefuls were hungry for a success that seemed elusive despite their talents and hard work, so they devised a plan to get their music out there. The idea was a free, acoustic monthly concert set in the beautiful Wickie Wackie Beach community in Bull Bay, St. Thomas, just outside of Kingston. It would give the band, Raging Fyah, a platform for people to get familiar with them and their musical prowess in an intimate setting, and they soon extended this invitation to other up-and-coming artistes equally keen on maintaining an authentic reggae sound. They named it Wickie Wackie Live (WWL) and saw just a handful of patrons, five of them, to be exact turn up for their first show. Unfazed, they staged it again, this time there were about 100 people present. Word spread like wildfire and the event continued to grow and cement it’s name as a launchpad for many of the current crop of reggae musicians blazing the trail.

In year five, (by then the band was touring the world and had to now stage the event annually), WWL had over 1,500 people present. They knew it was the right time to take it to new heights and connected with our team— Touch The Road — to make it happen. Enter the new and improved, first annual Wickie Wackie Music Festival (#WWMFJA2015) in year six on December 5 & 6. Still a live acoustic show focused on highlighting talented new acts, but with Touch The Road being travel/tourism and roots culture entertainment curators, it now included a vision to present the best of Jamaica to the world, while retaining the customary practice of giving back to the Wickie Wackie community through part proceeds and employment.

An environmental component was added, which included a beach clean-up, composting and proper waste disposal being reinforced. The shopping village showcasing unique, artisanal Jamaican products and traditional street eats — a broom man, soup man, coconut jelly man, etc. was a big hit. Student volunteers from the Edna Manley College of Visual & Performing Arts where 3/4 of the band was trained were incorporated as members of the execution team. Patrons, who jetted in from as far as Belgium and many parts of the world to enjoy the event could now either camp on the beach, outside the venue, or stay at one of the registered B&Bs in the area curated our TTR family if hotel stays was not their thing (or within their budgets).

Another remarkable feature of #WWMFJA2015 was that it received government sponsorship from IRIE Mag, the Jamaica Tourist Board and the then Ministry of Youth & Culture as part of their #CultureConnects initiative and as usual, put on an exceptional seaside show featuring the likes of Morgan Heritage, Kabaka Pyramid, Jesse Royal, ZincFence Family and highlighting budding greats like NOTIS, Earth & The Fullness, Asadenaki & The Tuff Gang and Ras I alongside Raging Fyah themselves who brought the two-day two-night event to an untimely, yet undeniably sweet close.

It was indeed a mammoth effort, there were several moving parts and a team that, though dedicated enough to work tirelessly for four months laying the foundation and denying ourselves of sleep, was in the end stretched thin. There were glitches but… we did it, together! We give thanks for everyone who joined forces to make it a reality, helped us dream big and who will join us again this year to make it happen even better this time. So enjoy a look back at #WWMFJA2015, sit tight and keep watching this space for more details on this year’s upcoming edition on December 2 & 3. #WWMFJA2016 soon come.

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