Adamant that disappointment is not one of his qualities, Downsound Entertainment’s CEO, Josef Bogdanovich is vowing to bring back Reggae Sumfest in July 2022. Already dates for the event that has been dubbed the Greatest Reggae Show on Earth have been set.

Although the concert’s return to Catherine Hall is largely hinged on how much of the population is vaccinated by then, Bogdanovich is confident that Jamaicans will do the right thing and has already begun booking artistes for the summer festival.

“I am not going to let anybody down and we are going to continue with the Greatest Reggae Show on Earth with the best entertainment/music you can imagine and then some at our home in Montego Bay. I think the experience will be awesome, the lineup is crazy exceptional, better than 2019 and we just can’t wait to bring it to you,” he told BUZZ.

Refusing to give any hints on which artistes have already been approached, Bogdanovich says he has been met with nothing but excitement from the artistes he’s negotiated with so far. He says the entertainers are anxious to return to the Sumfest stage.

“Everybody is 100 percent excited. They want to get back to work. They love Reggae Sumfest and what it means to Jamaica and just what it’s like to have Reggae on the Rocks as opposed to other places in the world,” he shared lamenting that it has been far too long since the event’s last physical staging. “I really miss it and so do the artistes and our patrons. It seems like so long ago. I can’t imagine if we didnt do the virtual show in 2020 how much more we would miss Reggae Sumfest.”

“I just think Reggae Sumfest is the greatest reggae show on earth and I’m really looking forward to bringing the festival back,” he added.

Still, although concrete dates have been set, Bogdanovich is aware that getting the greenlight for July 2022 is dependent on how many people get vaccinated. The Government has already outlined that vaccination is the key to Jamaica to returning to a pre-pandemic level of normalcy. But the Downsound Entertainment frontman is optimistic.

“I think the vaccination numbers will go up because the government is trying hard to get majority of the population fully vaccinated by year end,” Bogdanovich said. “They are now going door-to-door now to get people vaccinated and that takes a lot of effort so they are serious about what they’re doing.”

“In this country we have our perspective (on vaccination) which is understood and respected but I think there is progress being made. People are getting on board,” he continued.

Reggae Sumfest is being advertised for July 20 to 23 at Catherine Hall in Montego Bay.

Current vaccination statistics across Jamaica shows that less than 15 per cent of the population being fully vaccinated against the respiratory illness.