I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again a hundred times. Floating on a river by day, then catching a live reggae show with thousands of your closest friends by night, is an experience unmatched by any other reggae festival on Earth! And this one was sorely missed.

It’s been 6 long years since the last Reggae On The River. Financial hardships were reported to have brought this mighty festival to it’s knees. Indeed to it’s end, we all thought. There were just too many obstacles. The party was over we were all told.

But then a glimmer of hope! A partnership formed between Hot Milk Entertainment member Leo Ahern and the Mateel Community Center to resurrect this great event. According to Ahern they tried to return it to it’s original site. But the logistics just couldn’t be worked out. So a neighboring site just to the south of the venue was secured. And with that, and lots of hard work behind the scenes, the festival was relaunched! And what a party it was. 

The original swimming hole at the southern end of the old venue was now the North Beach. Complete with a River Stage and soundsystem. A soundsystem so good you could literally float on the river in your inner tube and listen to the sounds as they washed over you. The new bowl area (main stage) was also pretty good. Unlike the old venue…the new one actually had a few trees on the southern side of the grounds to provide some level of shading. It was still hot. As it always is that time of year in Humboldt/Mendocino County. But with the additional shade it made it much more bearable. 

And there were certainly things that could be improved upon. This was a new venue. Some new changes being implemented. Lots of new faces managing things. Maybe a little fine tuning to be had. But considering all the obstacles that had to be cleared, I was quite impressed at how smooth things went. 

But none of that really mattered to most. Our festival was back! It was all smiles and a return of “Happy Reggae”. Here are a few shots of some of the action. Can’t wait to do it all again in 2025.

– Eyeree