OPINION: This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending Sugarloaf’s 38th annual Reggae Fest: a mountain-wide celebration of reggae music and culture. The infamous festival features multiple music acts, a variety of food trucks and a warm-weather ski day filled with regular Loafers and even some folks who are just there for the good time. My day was blessed with short lift lines, great buffalo wings and good people.
Despite the great time, it appears that there are some people who not only dislike the festival, but actually find it offensive and inappropriate. In a recent Portland Press Herald article titled “Sugarloaf might want to rethink Reggae Fest,” columnist Leslie Bridgers openly criticized the mountain’s rasta-themed activities, questioning “an event themed around an Afro-Caribbean music genre…in the nation’s whitest state.” Aside from the fact that Vermont carries that title, her critique appears to completely miss the point of Reggae Fest. The music acts and participants are not trying to reclaim or appropriate a different culture, rather celebrate it. In fact, one of the artists is quoted in her article saying that “it’s not about trying to be something we’re not – it’s about honoring the music and the spirit behind it.”
Her main concern is that the festival mixes cultural appreciation with a more general party aesthetic, and based on her sentiments she seems to think that you can’t have both. She quotes an Arizona State University professor who asks “are we celebrating humanity, or are we celebrating something because it’s cool?” I ask you: can we not do both? Just because participants drink and smoke while listening to reggae artists doesn’t mean they demean or demoralize the event as a whole. If anything, the celebratory vibe fits the messages of reggae. As for the predominantly white crowd, I would argue again that this statistic does not invalidate such a festival. There’s a good chance that the younger crowd will be positively influenced by the songs and messages of the music, regardless of where it’s coming from.
Concerns about stereotyping are valid, especially when it comes to impersonating other cultures without knowledge or understanding of their meaning. During my visit, I saw virtually no fake dreads or racist accents, only people being themselves. The nature of the festival is celebratory, and with celebration comes a party. I don’t see anything wrong with that. I’m not the only one either, as readers commenting on the Press Herald’s forum call the article “offbeat and inappropriate,” citing traditional reggae messages of “love, unity, inclusion” as justification for the festival. Anyone who has actually attended the event knows and understands that the motivation behind it is nothing but positive and just.
Yes, we are Mainers and yes, we are often white, but music and its appreciation is universal. If valid and consistent reports of the celebration becoming insensitive were filed, then I would see Bridgers’ point. But from where I stand, it appears that she’s too far disconnected from the festival to understand its fun. And to that end, I say party on.
