GYPTIAN is pleased with the inaugural Gypsy Winter Festival held at the Golden Spring Community Centre, St Andrew, last Saturday.

“Everything went smooth. For the first show, we are really pleased with how everything went. What we have to do is move this forward for next year. Personally, the best thing about the event is that it took a stage show like this up in the hills to the people, my people in the community where I am from. Usually people up there have to leave the area to enjoy this kind of entertainment. So that is the biggest thing for me,” Gyptian told the Jamaica Observer.

Proceeds from the event are going to the singer’s foundation, which aims to assist people from the community who are facing financial challenges.

Among the acts who performed were Beenie Man, Capleton, Ky-Mani Marley, Kranium, Chi Ching Ching, Sean Paul, and Tommy Lee.

Gypsy Winter Festival is Gyptian’s first crack at show promotion. He is known for songs such as M ama, Hold You, Serious Times, and Beautiful Lady.

Hold You is his most commercially successful recording. It earned him a MOBO (Music of Black Origin) Award and the Soul Train Award, both in 2010.

— Richard Johnson