With the attendance of overseas audience at Rebel Salute now rivalling that of local patrons, the reggae festival is expected to continue contributing to tourist receipts when the event returns next January 20 and 21 to Grizzly’s in Priory, St Ann, for its 29th hosting.

The event, which is organised and hosted by Patrick “Tony Rebel” Barrett-led production and artiste management outfit Organic H.E.A.R.T.S., has transformed from being just a music festival to a lifestyle event that promotes, as part of Rastafarian livity, plant-based foods and the medicinal and religious uses of marijuana.

Originally a one-night concert when Tony Rebel first hosted it in 1994 in Mandeville, to commemorate his birthday, Rebel Salute has grown to a two-night gathering of an over 30,000-strong audience which in the past, included prime ministers from Jamaica and Barbados.

According to attorney-at-law and director of Organic H.E.A.R.T.S. Jahyudah Barrett, the addition of another night was due to a research conducted in 2012 to ascertain whether or not the audience was satisfied with a single night. She told reporters and editors during a recent Jamaica Observer Business Forum that when the show first experimented with the two-night festival, the turnout at both showings were the same.

“And I spoke to gentleman very recently who has attended Rebel Salute since inception and he’s looking forward to one week worth of celebrations,” she said, with her father beaming that he too is expecting the same.

Adding to this, independent communications consultant Carole Beckford, who heads promotion of the festival, pointed out that Rebel Salute has become like a “pilgrimage” that is now comparable to other reggae festivals held in Europe like Rototom Sunsplash in Benicassim, Spain; Reggae Summerjam in Cologne, Germany; and Reggae Geel in Belgium.

“…We would have engaged the widest community of entertainers in a festival and still attract one of the biggest international audience,” she said.

“‘Cause when people come to St Ann, they come for the festival but they stay for the allure of the parish… The records at JTB will tell you, almost half of the people who attend Rebel Salute are from overseas — 47 per cent,” Beckford added, pointing to 2017 figures.

A further breakdown of attendance shows that in 2019 52 per cent of the overseas audience was from the United States of America, 13 per cent from the United Kingdom, seven per cent from Canada, and 28 per cent from other countries.

Beckford argued that given the festival’s audience size, previous venues in Manchester and St Elizabeth would not have the capacity to host the calendar event.

When asked if there are plans to package the festival with hotel deals and attractions, Tony Rebel pointed out that while the events management company, Organic HEARTS, has it hands full, there are hotels and travel agents that have created packages around the event. Moreover, the organisers have secured partnerships with the Ministry of Culture, Jamaica Tourist Board, Sandals, and Courts.

With the absence of in-person gathering in 2020 and 2021, the parish council has expressed, according to the younger Barrett, the loss of a major income generator for citizens across the board.

“One of the things that happened in the meeting earlier this year with the parish council and the current mayor of St Ann [‘s Bay], he was saying the parish misses Rebel Salute because…when Rebel Salute everybody mek money, even the man that is not allowed in the venue and is selling jerk chicken,” she said.

“…So everybody mek money,” Barret noted with emphasis, adding, “Even those who are not directly a part of the festival. The hotels make money ’cause they’re always full; the attractions get a lot of tourists ’cause they’re there for the festival; and as you mentioned earlier, the artisans.”

On that note, Beckford told Business Observer that overseas patrons of Rebel Salute are usually long-stay tourists who expect indulge in the gastronomic offerings of Jamaica as well as the adventures attractions like Mystic Mountain and Dolphin Cove have to offer.

“The people who go for sports — sports and entertainment people stay longer in locations and they want good food and they will do adventures. So the potential for them to spend money, the actual overseas guests is critical for a festival like Rebel Salute because it’s like a pilgrimage,” she explained, adding that Jamaicans spend on the same experiences.

The hosting of Rebel Salute coincides with Jamaica’s winter tourist season.