Founder of Victoria’s ska-reggae fest has great expectations
This year’s program shifts away from soul to hip-hop, funk with six free events
The 19th edition is proving to be the charm for the Victoria Ska Festival and Reggae Festival. After nearly two decades of highs and lows, the festival is currently running at a rapid clip, with ticket sales and weather reports giving organizers of the non-profit event hope that 2018 could wind up being the most successful edition to date.
“It’s a really good festival this year.” said Dane Roberts, the festival’s founder and artistic director. “This year, we want back to our roots.”
Soul legend Booker T. Jones headlined the festival in 2017, which proved to be the right booking at the wrong time. Roberts said he moved the festival from mid-June to lateJune, hoping the sun would change his fortunes somewhat; he also made a conscious decision this year to book acts more in line with the festival’s ska and reggae mandate. With the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Culture featuring Kenyatta Hill, Freddie McGregor and the Western Standard Time Jazz Orchestra topping the bill, he’s already seeing the results.
“Last year was tough,” Roberts said. “It was the second week of June, and people didn’t have their summer schedules. Canada 150 was a week after, and that was 10 days of free programming. The weather wasn’t very good, and the festival was also on the same weekend as Car Free YYJ. There was so many things not in our favour.”
Roberts shifted away from soul to hip-hop and funk, bringing in rap pioneer Que Rock, British DJ Jimi Needles, Latin funk favourites Ozomatli, and Chali 2na of Jurassic 5. “That has proven to be a really good decision, because we’re getting a lot of younger people. They like the energy of ska and reggae music, even though they are hip-hop fans.”
Roberts, who runs the festival for the Victoria B.C. Ska Society, didn’t stop there.
The festival offers six free events, including a workshop and panel discussion at The Vic Theatre on Friday and a screening of The Legends of Ska documentary at The Vic Theatre on Saturday.
He also dropped the number of paid performances at the Ship Point main stage in the Inner Harbour from three to two, upping the value for ticket-buyers with a free performances at the site on Thrusday. “The free shows are the highest-quality free shows we’ve ever had. I would rather do that and get the programming out to people.”
The five-day event is remarkably deep in terms of international talent, with nine countries represented. Panteón Rococó (Mexico), Kingston Rudieska (South Korea), Freddie McGregor and Culture featuring Kenyatta Hill (Jamaica), Jimi Needles (England), The Resignators (Australia), Parahyba Ska Jazz Foundation (Brazil), Paapa Wastik (Ghana), and the Mighty Mighty Bosstones and Western Standard Time Orchestra (United States) are all travelling to Victoria for the event, one of the last of its kind in North America.
The touring party for Panteón Rococó is 18 deep, while Kingston Rudieska has 11 in their party and Parahyba Ska Jazz Foundation has seven.
Though the international flavour of his artists makes for a time-consuming headache, in terms of travel planning, Roberts loves interacting with groups making their first appearance at the Victoria Ska Festival and Reggae Festival. “It’s a lot of juggling just to make sure that they have enough places to sleep and food to eat. But we love it. They are brothers and sisters.”
Language barriers exist between performers and producers at times, but they are not a hindrance. The ska genre (which was a pre-cursor to reggae) brings out the best in people, Roberts said.
“The vibe of ska and reggae music is shared internationally. No matter what language they speak, the vibe of the people is always warm and friendly. Years ago, we had a band from Italy come, and they couldn’t speak English. But when they played, everybody knows that language. That’s the universal language — music.”