Heritage Day One Love Reggae Community Festival
The Atlantis Rastafari Community (A.R.C) will stage the 6th annual Heritage day One Love Festival at a Community Park in Saxonsea, Atlantis on 24 September 2024.
The suburb of Atlantis was established in the 70s by the Apartheid government for the coloured population of Cape Town under the Group Areas Act. It was created within the framework of Apartheid spatial Development Policies. These policies were designed to physically separate and divide South Africans along racial lines. Atlantis was developed for people designated as ‘coloured’ who had been displaced from various Areas of Cape Town during Forced Removals, under Apartheid law. The area is situated 45 km North of the Cape Town – far from the City centre, where most of the jobs were in those days. Unemployment, lack of housing and crime are major challenges in the area.
This is where the Rasta Community steps in, to try to find solutions to the challenges. They initiated community projects to lure the youth away from crime and idleness. One of the major projects is the Heritage Day One Love Festival. Ras Dan, member of the ARC explains:
“We as A.R.C are a group of Rastas who gather weekly to help alleviate poverty and suffering amongst ourselves and the rest of the community. Summer times, we go around our community every other Sunday and gather in different locations in our community. We make food for the needy and pack out our sound system. As you know, we call it a – One Love Gathering. “
Heritage Day is a South African public holiday celebrated on 24 September and on this day, South Africans are encouraged to celebrate their culture. Although a particular group of South African decided to make a mockery out of this and call it a “Braai Day”, the Rasta community holds a sober view of this day, and understands its significance. Given the diverse Heritage backgrounds, as a multi-racial, multicultural country, The Rasta community decided to do something that celebrates the Rasta Heritage. The best way they could do it was with a Reggae show hosted in their communities,
Ras Dan explains further, “For us as Rastas, to quote Marcus Garvey. ‘A people without the knowledge of their past, history or origin is like a tree without roots.’ We as a coloured/Khoi/San community know little about our past history or origin as it has been kept from us through the power struggle that has been happening in and around South Africa for the past 300yrs.” Therefore, affirming one’s origins is a major aspect of the Festival.
ARC has been staging this free event through raising funds and have established good relations with the Reggae Dancehall artists and DJ’s from the Cape colored community. They all make sure that the event is a success by contributing their services as artists and organisers. The organisers get together on a weekly basis and raise funds by contribution. They have no major financial backing, but resources are given from a few local businesses in Atlantis. This year they held a fundraising event with Bliksemstraal as the main act. Bliksemstraal is a very popular Dancehall Hiphop artist, whose commitment to the culture and his community is unrivaled. The turn-out was massive with locals on the West Coast from Lambertsbai to Strand in attendance.
This year’s line-up includes major players in the Reggae Dancehall scene in the Western Cape. Selector King Yellow, one of the biggest names in the Western Cape, contributes with his sound system, Triple Crown Sound. Other exciting performers includes Bliksemstraal, Iyah Tunes, Jah Link, Yagga Flame, Jah Magic, The West Coast Wailers, Noemwoord, Terrible Dan, I Ras, Conscious Fire, Honorable Antonio, Vader Jappie.
The Heritage Day One Love Reggae Festival, powered by Triple Crown Sound, hosted by the Atlantis Reggae Community and supported by Uplivement Productions ATL will be held on September, 24 at the Community Park in Saxonsea, Fernande Street, Atlantis, Cape Town. Entry is Free
