The Victoria Ska Fest is the longest running festival of its kind in North America. This year they celebrated their 15th anniversary with a stellar lineup of reggae and ska acts anchored by the likes of Fishbone, Barrington Levy, The Aggrolites and Shaggy.
This year’s Ska Fest was also a truly international display of reggae music’s appeal with acts like Los Rastrillos (made up of practicing Rastafarians from the plateaus of Mexico who donated their earnings back to their community), Zvuloon Dub System (dub reggae from Israel) and Providencia (roots reggae from Colombia).
For five days the annual festival once again captured its unique blend of good music, rowdy dancing (complete with crowd surfing from fans and artists alike) and community mindedness.
It was another reminder that after 15 years the Victoria Ska Fest remains one of the crown jewels of the west coast music calendar; a strong enough draw that I talked to a young man who came from Saskatoon by way of a 36-hour bus ride for the festivities.
-Blake Morneau
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