SUNSHINE vibes will be flooding through Liverpool this weekend when Liverpool’s annual celebration of reggae music and Jamaican heritage returns with legendary music names and chillng opportunities galore.
Positive Vibration, an antiote to all things Euro 2016, takes place at Constellations, in the Baltic zone, which will be transformed into Little Montego Bay over Friday and Saturday. Non stop live performances, DJs and selectas, dub sound systems, a market, things for kids and an extensive Caribbean food and drink section including gallons of rum, wings and Ting.
And its not just the Sprit of Jah which will be infusing everyone, but the spirit of the late and great DJ Derek who wil be saluted with a new pale ale called One Love (the song Derek used to finish his set with) which is being officially launched at the festival.
Brewed by the Baltic's Black Lodge Brewery in Kitchen Street, all proceeds from the sale of the beer, which can also be found at The Kazimier Garden and the Jacaranda, will be donated to Trinity Centre, Bristol, at the request of the family of the much loved DJ who was found dead earlier in the year by a river bank after a protracted disappearance.
The festival kicks off on Friday night (June 10) with a live performance from legendary dub producer and long-term collaborator of Lee Scratch Perry, Mad Professor. After that the famed Trojan Sound System team of DJs and vocalists will be bringing their message of love and unity through the power of ska and roots reggae into the wee small hours.
On Saturday, DJ, musician and Grammy Award winning film-maker Don Letts will take part in Reggae Q&A, billed as “an informative and interactive discussion” Letts, a major figure in the reggae/punk crossover scene of the 1970s and 1980s, began his musical career with PiL, managed The Slits and has worked with everyone from The Clash, Public Enemy and Musical Youth to The Pretenders, Aswad and The Pogues. The Q&A will focus on the impact reggae music has had on British culture, music and society. Letts is joined by Liverpool-born poet Levi Tafari and Les Spaine, one of the most important British club DJs of the 1970s, Les Spaine.
Following the Q&A, both Letts and Spaine will be spinning some of their favourite roots, reggae (and punk) records, and Tafari will be showcasing this unique style of dub poetry.
Saturday is also family friendly day which means arts and crafts workshops hosted by Liverpool-based Square Pegs, as well as festival-favourite, the Rastaquarium.
There is also a massive line up of live music from some of the UK’s foremost reggae and hip hop performers, going on until the early hours. See the flyer for the line up.
The festival will also play host to Jamdown Market which includes pop up stalls selling clothes, jewellery, and other handmade and original goods.
Meanwhile inside Constellations, The Art of Reggae exhibition features 100 reggae-inspired posters designed by artists and illustrators from across the globe.
You got all that?
*Positive Vibration, Constellations, Greenland Street, Baltic zone, L1, Friday-Saturday June 10-11. Tickets, from £10 here and Facebook page for more info.
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