For almost 30 years, Lloyd “Shine Roc” Allen has been one of the most visible artistes on Toronto’s dancehall-reggae scene. Last year, he added show promoter to his resume by staging Taste Of Jamaica, an event showcasing his homeland’s diverse culture.

Its second staging takes place on August 4 at Masaryktown Park in Scarborough, a district in Toronto that is home to a large Jamaican and West Indian community. Shine Roc expects even greater response than the inaugural show which attracted over 500 patrons.

“This year, we are looking forward to a wider variety of food, more sports events and to top up our stage performances. We are hoping that Taste Of Jamaica will be able to draw a bigger audience and vendors, and potential investors and sponsors,” he said.

Taste of Jamaica takes place two days before Jamaica celebrates its 62nd year of independence from Britain. Shine Roc, who migrated to Canada in the early 1990s, launched his recording career there in 1995 with the song, Evil A Gwaan.

Eager to expose the Jamaican lifestyle brand, he introduced Taste Of Jamaica which showcased his country’s art, music, food and sporting prowess. Winston Paddy, Higher Priest and Donna Makeda, prominent artistes in Toronto reggae circles, will perform along with Michael Buckley, a veteran singer from Waterhouse.

Shine Roc, who is from Woodford Park in Central Kingston, will also perform at Taste Of Jamaica. He was pleased with its debut which took place at the same venue.

“The people really enjoyed the beautiful scenery and setup of the event. Some critics believed that with more promotion, the event will attract a bigger audience and more vendors. The performances were enjoyable. The people had a great time and they requested that Taste Of Jamaica become an annual event,” he said.

– Howard Campbell