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Greetings! Blessings
to you and your families! Regrettably,
we the organizers of the Vermont International Reggae Music Festival have
had to make the difficult decision of canceling this year’s festival. This
decision is by no means a reflection on our commitment to bringing loving
action and positive works to our local and international universal family. Lack
of sponsorship, insufficient pre-festival ticket sales, a commitment to
paying a fair wage to reggae artists, and several obstacles put forth by
the Rutland Town Select Board and neighbors to the festival site, has
unfortunately resulted in this action. In
the words of His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie I, “Until the
philosophy which holds one race superior and another, inferior, is
finally, and permanently, abandoned… there’ll always be war and rumors
of war” We
cannot presume to know the heart and intentions of some of the people who
resisted the festival being in Rutland. When we started to be referred to
as “those people” by neighbors of the Gerdon Family Farm (festival
site), we were saddened, but determined to continue with our positive
works. We innerstand and know the power of positive music and the impact
it can have on people. Vermont has
historically been a welcoming state for reggae music. At the May Town
Meeting, Select Board Chairman Stan Rhodes went as far as to ask Bush I,
“Bottom line, what would it take to pull the plug on this? What would it
take to just walk away?” The select board proceeded to e-mail what we
considered unreasonable “requirements/requests” (over 1 mile of
fencing between property lines, 13 neighbors named on our insurance
policy, peddlers permits paid to the town of $100 per vendor, a permit
from the Town Road Commissioner for the proposed vehicle ingress and
egress off North Grove Street (an open field being used for parking on the
farm where the festival was to be held). Remember,
this is private property and state law allows ANY gathering of fewer than
1999 people by law. It is considered a private party. Some one on
a local radio station asked, “Would they be doing this if it were the
Vermont Symphony?” We doubt it. That
set the tone. Rumors were flying that the festival was cancelled. Ticket
sales dropped off. Though we made a concerted effort to bring the momentum
back, it was just not happening. We were heading into the festival 32 days
away with over $46,000 needed to break even. We did not see 500 tickets
being sold in the next 30 days, in order to support this. So… with a
heavy heart, we cancelled the weekend festival. Ways
to Support Events So
many people have shown their support for this and future events put on by
The Almighty Group. And many have asked, “How
can we help next time?” A few ways that you can help are, if you are
planning to go to the event, buy your tickets early.
This helps organizers get a feeling for how many people are coming.
Spread the word. Offer to volunteer to put up posters, call local
newspapers and ask for coverage, offer suggestions to organizers for
sponsorship idea’s. If you live locally to the event, show up at the Town Meetings in
support of the event. You know the expression “It takes a village…”.
Well in these times, it does
take a village, only our village is now global. We
remain committed to providing Peace and Harmony through positive reggae
music. Look for other events sponsored by The Almighty Group. We
give many thanks to those of you who supported this festival: Sis.
Marcelina, Kesher, Judah, Jahsun, King Alpha, Ras Kyron, Ras Ravin I,
Matt, Ras Daniel, George Gerdon, Censor Security, Blue Sky, Kristi, Bro. Yahdai, RiversEdge Productions, Sis. Nema, all
of the performers, vendors, ticket buyers and so many, many more who put
their time, efforts and positive vibrations into this project. As
Brother Bob Marley sung “One
Love, One Heart, Let’s Get Together and Feel Alright…Give Thanks and
Praise to the Lord and We Will Feel Alright” We
do Give Thanks and wish only the best and Blessings for all Beings. If
you need to connect with us, please feel free to do so at BushI@vermontreggae.org
or Jharna@vermontreggae.org.
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