The Evaton Reggae Fest | Where Reggae Heads Meet!
The maiden festival, Evaton Reggae Fest Explosion is scheduled for Saturday January 07, 2023 at Muthi House in Evaton, organised by Concrete Jungle Studios and PapStyle Sound. A musical experience that seeks to contribute to the local community by providing live entertainment through music, arts, and culture. It is envisioned to be an Artists festival, A Place Where Reggae Heads Meet.
Singer, Songwriter, Producer and multi-instrumentalist Botanist Mr. Lamington joined forces with DJ SidPlanta of Papstyle Sound to realise this Artist-led project. These Vaal natives saw it fit to put their heads (and wallates) together and create from ground zero, forging ahead with or without funding. They rely on the community involvement and the other artists and DJs who share the same vision of self reliance. Mr. Lamington explains:
“The idea has been marinating for a while in my head. It was fuelled by what I saw and experience, the struggle of the artists in the Vaal, myself included, Our Emfuleni municipality does not invest much in the creative sector, let alone does anything to accommodate reggae as a whole. Vaal has a large number of Reggae and Dancehall massive and artists, so I wanted to initiate an event that will create self sustainability for artists while at the same time creating a platform for community initiatives to help ourselves.”
One of the grounding tenets of the Evaton Reggae Fest is Community Building and community involvement. At this first staging of the event, patrons are asked to bring food and clothing to donate to the needy. The emphasis is on school uniforms, shoes and food supplies, as the event coincides with the Back To School season after the long break. It is at this time that poverty reveals itself in the surrounding impoverished area.
For the artists, Botanists feel that they are getting the short end of the stick in the Reggae Dancehall circles. Even when the events are funded by Government entities, it is the promoters who benefit way more than the artist. Botanist further explains:
“However we as artists, are struggling in Reggae circles because all the promoters are just using us to build their names and growing their funds in the bank, meanwhile, the artists are struggling and are barely able to feed their families,”
A sentiment echoed by many artists in the field, some even attempted to boycott some events while others went online and started the #paytheartist hashtag, which sadly did not get the support needed, but the seed had been planted.
The event will be held at Muthi House, a very popular venue in the heart of Evaton, which has hosted the likes of international award winning DJ Black Coffee. Popular artist Big Nuz has also passed through Muthi House.
Botanist Mr. Lamington is known for his versatility and creativity, the Vaal-born reggae and dancehall artist, hopes to create an annual artiste-led musical concert in the Vaal and hopes that it will achieve what it set out to do. A creative outlet for Reggae Dancehall artists and a platform for community building. He has a prolific career, with three South African Music Awards Nominations for Best Reggae Album under his name. 6 Studio Albums and a string of singles featured on big riddims. He has been prominent in the scene ever since he dropped his debut single ‘Summer Time’ in 2016. He is regarded as one of the most sought after performers on the scene and has opened up for Jah Mason, Beenie Man, Chronixx, King Vuvu(Ghana), Turbulence: locally Gemini Major, Reason and Big Zulu and was also going to open for Morgen Heritage if the concert had not been cancelled. He has graced the stages of Back To My Roots Festival in Soweto and represented Dancehall at the Back To The City event, the biggest Hip Hop event in Africa.
The Evaton Reggae Fest Explosion will take place on Saturday 07 January, 2023 at Muthi House in Evaton. The event starts at 12 noon Entry costs R30,00 and stalls are R150. Further inquiries link up with Mohlomi on +27 735778439.