Dancehall goes to the town of Ajax in Ontario, Canada, on September 21 with the inaugural staging of Yaad Fest, which features several veteran Jamaican artistes, as well as a number of Canadian acts.
Niyah, a spokesperson for the promoters Yaad Fest Inc, said an event of this nature is new to Ajax, which is 20 minutes drive from Scarborough, a district which is traditionally home to a large West Indian community.
“It’s being held in an area that normally doesn’t do reggae, so the show promises to be exciting,” she said.
Tanto Metro and Devonte, best known for the 1997 hit single Everyone Falls in Love, are headliners for Yaad Fest. The line-up also includes Nadine Sutherland, who is celebrating her 45th year in the music business, and dancehall veterans Courtney Melody and Jigsy King. The line-up is completed by homegrown hip-hop acts Burgz and Jellytoofly, Afrobeats singer Bugatti Bonsu, and Patexx, a Jamaican dancehall deejay based in Atlanta.
According to Niyah, the number of seasoned artistes adds to the family flavour of Yaad Fest, which is being held in the last week of the Canadian summer.
The daughter of Jamaican parents, Niyah was born in Canada. She has promoted several live events in the Greater Toronto Area and the Beach O Rama series in downtown Kingston.