Dream Entertainment executive Scott Dunn has 30 years of experience under his belt in the events promotion arena.

Events such as 1991, Osmosis, Yush and Dream Weekend have benefited from his expertise throughout the years.

Dunn has decided to use his experience to mentor up-and-coming events promotion team Yardii Group.

The group’s upcoming event, Kurrent Fest, is scheduled for July 13 at the UWI Mona Bowl.

“I have been kinda looking at how the industry is going and see who’s gonna be the next set of promoters coming up. And I looked at the Yardii Group guys and they looked like they had their thing together. They kinda remind me of myself many years ago. I wanted to do some mentorship and making sure that the industry remains strong,” Dunn said in an interview with the Jamaica Observer last week.

He continued: “They came to me and I said, this would be the perfect people for me to work with, to kinda ensure they scale their event up to the next level.”

Dunn said he didn’t have any mentors when he was just starting out in the industry.

“…[A]nd because of that, the learning curve was very long. I’m hoping that by providing mentorship to some of these young promoters that they wouldn’t make the same mistakes that I would have made, and that they would scale their thing up a lot quicker than I was able to and other people,” said Dunn.

Asked how involved he was in Kurrent Fest, Dunn said: “I try not to get over-involved. I kinda watch from the sidelines a lot and give advice when asked. It’s their event and I don’t want to take stuff away from them. I have been helping with artiste relationships, helping to negotiate artiste deals, helping with sponsors and suppliers. They have been doing their stuff for a few years, so it’s not like they are ‘green’, they know what they are doing. I wouldn’t have worked with them if I never thought they knew what they’re doing.”

Noted queen of the dancehall Spice and soca princess Nailah Blackman are the headliners for Kurrent Fest.

The in-demand Fyahman of Fyah 105 FM, Kevi Di Kinetic, Brush1, and Franco and Zess will provide the musical juggling.

Nathan Davis is a director of Yardii Group.

“Working with Scott is like a dream come true. When I was in high school I used to watch interviews with the Dream Entertainment promoters, and I heard their legacy stories — how they started — and I wanted to be like them and even have an event as big as theirs. We actually bucked up each other at a few projects and that’s how I met Scott,” Davis told the Jamaica Observer.

The first Kurrent Fest was held during the COVID-19 pandemic at 100 on Hope Road in St Andrew and targeted a predominately high school audience.

Said Davis: “As the event aged, the crowd’s aged as well. The type of entertainment value that we provide to our audience is more adult. We brought it up to the university level last December. This time, Kurrent Fest is actually a festival.”

Dunn was involved in the negotiations for the event’s headliners.

“Spice hasn’t performed in Kingston in six years and Nailah is the princess of soca. When I got involved I called up people who I have relationships with, including the artistes, booking agents, and managers,” he said.

He added: “The demographic is the core university students. We expect to bring out the big soca fans, the dancehall fans, and a wide cross section of people.

“We’re gonna get dutty; it’s the ultimate J’Ouvert. You can expect a Caribbean extravaganza. The production will be top-tier and the performances will be something that you’d wanna see. Good DJs and giving the patrons the best experience,” said Davis.