Uppsala Reggae Festival 2011 Swedish reggae festival pays tribute to dancehall and street dance with a "Dance4Life" concept.

The Uppsala Reggae Festival, being held in Sweden for the eleventh time, is taking a giant step into the new decade with a focus on street dance, dance performances, dance parties, and contemporary reggae artists reaching out to a new generation of reggae fans. The Uppsala Reggae Festival is the biggest reggae festival in Scandinavia and this year takes place on 4-6 August.

The traditional theme of the Uppsala Reggae Festival 'Life is Great' is being expressed in a new way this year with a focus on dance. The major new addition to the festival 'Dance4Life' turns the spotlight on and celebrates street dance with inspiration from Jamaica and different areas of the Caribbean. The concept behind Dance4Life is the intention of increasing interest in Sweden in dancing reggae dancehall by providing high energy dance performances and dancehall parties on the evenings of the festival and dance workshops during the days. More than 70 active street dancers have been invited to perform, guaranteeing that energy and enjoyment levels can be maintained over the three days of the festival.

“There is a positive and innovative up-tempo energy within the international reggae scene that we also want to spread to Sweden. This year we have devoted ourselves to offering both a music festival and a dance festival to celebrate all the joy there is in both the more established and newer forms of reggae”, says Yared Tekeste, who founded the Uppsala Reggae Festival.

Last year the Uppsala Reggae Festival celebrated its 10th anniversary with a ‘best of’ festival with performances by the most prominent reggae acts to appear at the festival since its inception in 2001. This year also has performances by world stars representing the foundation, such as Toots & The Maytals, Ken Boothe, The Heptones and Johnny Clarke. But this year there is less of the more established and more of the new wave with acts representing dancehall, modern roots reggae and reggae fusion. This year’s lineup includes Elephant Man, Gyptian, Queen Ifrica, Mr.Vegas and Richie Spies. There will also be performances from Swedish dancehall representatives Kapten Röd and the reggae fusion-band SKA-N-SKA, fusing Ska, Punk and Balkan musical influences.

"In Sweden the number of dancehall clubs is growing as public awareness of dancehall increases. More and more Swedish dance schools have learning to dance reggae dancehall on their curriculums and the widely known mainstream stars like Beyonce and Sean Paul have helped to spread interest in dancehall throughout the world. Last year we saw a lot of spontaneous dance parties happening at the festival and the public loved it. Dance is a natural aspect of the reggae culture and the Uppsala Reggae Festival is probably the most dance-oriented music festival in Scandinavia", says Yared Tekeste

International artistes: Toots & The Maytals (JAM), Richie Spice (JAM), Ken Boothe (JAM), Elephant Man (JAM), Gyptian (JAM), Queen Ifrica (JAM), Tony Rebel (JAM), The Heptones (JAM), Mr.Vegas (JAM), Johnny Clarke (JAM), Pressure (Virgin Islands), Protoje (JAM), Don Corleone (JAM), Romain Virgo, Jah Sun (US), Bush Chemist & King General (UK), Fatman Sound (UK), Quique Neira & Jah Rock Family (CHI), Silly Walks Discoteque (GER), Norris Man (Jam), Bush Chemist & King General (UK), Fatman Sound (UK), Chantelle (JAM), Rebellious (JAM), Noah Roots & Tini I

Swedish artistes: Kapten Röd, SKA-N-SKA, Joey Fever, Twang System, Solomon Allstars feat. Junior Natural, P3-Sommarssesion Serengeti, Mekka, Jahvisst & Format, Soundkilla Family, Million Vibes Sound, Meditative Sounds, Trinity Sound, Jah Massive Sound System.



The Scandinavian love of reggae has matured greatly since the end of the 1970s when Bob Marley charmed the Scandinavian public with his music. The most significant development has happened during the last 10 years in conjunction with the Tekeste/Kubrom family establishing the Uppsala Reggae Festival, which is now the largest reggae festival in Scandinavia: “We love reggae music and devote all our energy and knowledge to making it more accessible to more people. That we have succeeded is due to our personal commitment and the way we work together as a family.

People in northern Europe have a need to come together in new ways, so we work with the goal of highlighting what is positive about reggae and create festivals that focus on love, respect and a sense of belonging," says Yared Tekeste who founded the Uppsala Reggae Festival together with his wife Adiam Kubrom in 2001.