Victoria Ska and Reggae Festival / Society

Now we're done the for summer we're going to sit back and enjoy everyone else's party offerings from this weekend to the end of summer. 😌 😎

But let's not get ahead of ourselves now! This weekend is Phillips Backyarder Weekend presented by our friends Phillips Brewing & Malting Co. and there's a bunch of good hip hop, funk, soul and other groovy sounds for you to enjoy. Their lineup includes groups such as Black Pumas, Jungle, Earl Sweatshirt, Current Swell, The Bankes Brothers and plenty more. Tickets and more information are available at www.phillipsbackyard.com

Although we are taking a breather for the next little while, there are a ton of events to enjoy in Victoria that we think you'd like. One of them coming up that we're excited about is the i-Land Fest • YYJ Carnival on August 24th & 25th! For those of you that know what it's like to be in a road march, they're going to have the first one ever in Victoria on August 24th from Wharf Street to Centennial Square. At Centennial Square they will have Shurwayne Wi******er who is a great soca artist headline that night. Then on Sunday, August 25th Caleb Hart will headline.

Right now the festival is looking for volunteers. They have a Volunteer Orientation on August 11th. Everyone is welcome, regardless of background or experience. If you're all about supporting Caribbean culture, we'd love to have you on board.

Go here to sign up: https://docs.google.com/.../1FAIpQLSd6jYQRWC9.../viewform.

Once you've signed up, more information about our Volunteer Orientation will be emailed to you.

What an AWESOME TIME we all had at Explosive Germinations this past Friday at Centennial Square! Thanks to BURNT, Hot Pot and Alpha Centauri with JR Atlas for giving us a show we will not forget. It was a full on Victoria Ska and Reggae Society fam jam up in the place! Thanks to all the team, City of Victoria, Phillips Brewing & Malting Co., The Strait & Narrow and Creative BC for their support.

We are going to take a summer breather and we'll be back in October for more fun into the fall!

Enjoy some photos and videos in the comment section from James Younger and crew.

For those of you going to Explosive Germinations later today we just wanted to give you a rough outline of when the bands are playing.
Note these times are appropriate.

Doors: 4:20pm
Alpha Centauri with JR Atlas: 5:20pm
Hot Pot: 7pm
BURNT: 8:20pm

We also wanted you to know that we will be selling leftover limited edition merchandise from Victoria's 25th Anniversary Ska & Reggae Festival for reduced prices. So if you want a t-shirt, hoodies or a limited edition print we'll have those available at the merchandise tent.

For those that are 19yrs+ we'll have a selection of beverages from Phillips Brewing & Malting Co., The Strait & Narrow and spirits. All drinks are $7.75.

We look forward to seeing you all at the show today!

We can't wait for our longtime Northern California fam BURNT to join us this Friday at EXPLOSIVE GERMINATIONS!

Plan to be at the show on Friday, August 2nd at Centennial Square with Alpha Centaurii w/JR Atlas and Hot Pot! Doors at 4:20pm/First band on around 5:15pm. FREE/ALL AGES/Bar for 19yrs + w/ID.

We always loved the having them but it's even more special given that Nev Gibson (happy belated birthday to him by the way) will be playing saxophone in the band. This photo of the band is accurate to how you'll see BURNT role around the Island as they'll be taking good ol Gussy (the beautifully painted Ska and Reggae van) on tour to their other BC dates.

Hot Pot who are making their debut with us at Explosive Germinations this Friday, August 2nd at Centennial Square, will bring a mixture of jazz, reggae, funk, soul, hip hop, and other schools of music with roots in West Africa, the Caribbean, and Turtle Island. They've been the talk of the town in recent months so we're looking forward to what they have to sing, say and play this Friday!
Explosive Germinations is a FREE & All Ages show with bar for those 19yrs+. Doors at 4:20pm. Curfew at 10pm.

Victoria Ska and Reggae Festival / Society Entertain. Educate. Unite. https://linktr.ee/Vicskareggaefest

There's sunshine and good times in the forecast for this BC Long Weekend! Make sure you arrive at 4:20pm this Friday, August 2nd at Centennial Square for Explosive Germinations!

We're excited to welcome back Alpha Centauri and guest JR Atlas after they played such a good show at Garden City Grooves 10th Anniversary Festival this past February.

ALPHA CENTAURI is originally from Zimbabwe and was educated and later worked as a lawyer. However, soon after passing the bar, he realized that the legal life was not the right fit for him. He changed gears. He instead got on a plane for Canada with the plan of giving his music career a serious shot.

So far Alpha Centauri has done well since he moved to Canada creating connections with some of the best global roots, hip hop and reggae artists on the west coast of Canada. And he's been on some international tours and bills with heavyweights such as Method Man, Redman and Chali 2na.

Get ready for a seamless mixture of Afro-beat, funk and hip hop. They'll be playing first on the bill (around 5:15pm) so don't miss out!

Explosive Germinations is FREE, All Ages with bar for 19yrs + with ID. Spread the good word and see you there! 💥

Brassy, classy, and sassy.

📸 LowDown Brass Band by Filter Out The Ordinary

This set was for the cravers!

Who was there for The Kiltlifters reunion? Hopefully we don’t have to wait another decade to see them again.

📸:

Mark your calendars for Friday, August 2nd at Centennial Square. Victoria Ska and Reggae Society is excited to present "Explosive Germinations" - an exquisite mix of ska, reggae, hip hop, Afrobeat, jazz, funk, R&B, and more featuring our good friends BURNT , Hot Pot, and Alpha Centauri with JR Atlas.

Hot Pot who are making their debut with us will bring a mixture of jazz, reggae, funk, soul, hip hop, and other schools of music with roots in West Africa, the Caribbean, and Turtle Island.

We are excited to welcome back Alpha Centauri who played on our Garden City Grooves Festival earlier this year. He is fresh off a full national tour with Method Man and Red Man. He will bring us world class Afrobeat, funk, hip hop and more with special guest JR Atlas.

This FREE, all ages show with a bar for 19yrs+ will be the final show of the summer for us so we encourage you to come out and bring your friends.

We have been working with BURNT since the early 2000s so they are close to us and their music keeps getting better. They will be playing new material from their recent album Sol Connector as well as some of our favourite ol school hits for the ska/reggae faithful.

We look forward to seeing you at the show! 😎❤💯

Victoria Ska and Reggae Festival / Society Entertain. Educate. Unite. https://linktr.ee/Vicskareggaefest

We need a whole lot more of AMMOYE!

Photo: F.O.T.O.

Watch out for the ska stampede! What a joy to have back at the fest.

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Good morning Victoria!! Thanks to everyone that came out to Summer Splash at Centennial Square to experience world class, high energy sets by Kirá Chao, Gambeat Y La Groovin Familia and La Chuparosa. We were so happy to see so many people (especially from the Latin community) come out in droves for the show. The weather was perfect and all three bands put down music that we have never heard. A lot of people that stumbled across it were in awe.

Enjoy photos from the show courtesy of James Younger and some by our team. 😎💥🔥

The young legend, Kira Chao, and his band have The people jumping in the heart of Victoria.

Kira Chao (son of living legend Manu Chao) and La Chuparosa blew the roof off of Galiano Community Hall last night. It was a full house and everyone was dancing full from the first to the last note.

Victoria is in for such an enjoyable, unforgettable and historic show this afternoon/evening at Centennial Square.

Gambeat y La Groovin Familia from France will be joining Kira Chao and La Chuparosa today which will add even more fun to this high energy show.

All Ages/Fully licensed and FREE

Doors: 4pm

La Chuparosa: 5pm

Gambeat y La Groovin Familia: 6:30pm

Kira Chao: 8:15pm

Show ends at 10pm

Kira Chao have arrived from Brazil and are currently relaxing on Gossip Island beside Galiano Island with Victoria Ska and Reggae Society crew before their two shows at Galiano Island Community Hall on Friday, July 5th and Saturday, July 6th at the Summer Splash at Centennial Square.

We've been talking a lot about Kirá Chao (son of living legend Manu Chao) from Brazil and Gambeat Y La Groovin Familia from France for these unforgettable shows this Friday, July 5th at Galiano Community Hall and Saturday, July 6th in Victoria at the Summer Splash at Centennial Square.

But we want to remind you that we have some of our Island's best Latin artists that will be playing on both shows in Galiano Island and Victoria!

Joining Kira Chao for these two shows will be Victoria's own La Chuparosa! La Chuparosa is the brainchild of Canadian producer and multi-instrumentalist Dallas Budd (aka Battery Poacher). Featuring Nostic (Peru), Costa Rican vocalist Miss Tica, Cuban percussionist Hector Ramos Mejias, and Budd himself on guitar/bass/beats. La Chuparosa can be described as rolling tropical bass, psychedelic desert guitar, thought provoking lyrics and lustrous electronic beats heavily seasoned with live percussion. Picture Latin Electronica shaking hands with Afrobeat and Cumbia in a kaleidoscopic vortex of love.

Finally after several years of talking about it, La Chuparosa will make their debut with Victoria Ska and Reggae Society on these two shows!
We are so excited to have them with us!

Remember both shows are all ages and licensed. Tickets for the Galiano show are available here: https://bit.ly/3KIAvzZ on TicketWeb Canada or at Daystar or Oxeye.

Victoria Summer Splash at Centennial Square on Sat. July 6th is FREE!

Those that were at Laketown Shakedown (near Lake Cowichan on Vancouver Island) were treated to an awesome performance by Gwen Stefani. She played a good balance of material from No Doubt and her own. It was a solid set and the band and dancers that accompanied her put out non stop energy for the whole 75 minute set. Here are some photos from the show.

Desde Mexico con amor, Antidoping.

📸: Filter Out The Ordinary

We're exactly one week from what is to be a legendary pair of shows with Kirá Chao (son of living legend Manu Chao). He will be playing an all ages/licensed show with La Chuparosa in Galiano Island at the Galiano Community Hall on Friday, July 5th (Doors at 8pm) and then a huge free concert in Victoria at Centennial Square on Saturday, July 6th. Doors at 4pm/Curfew 10pm.

Joining Kirá Chao and La Chuparosa in Victoria are Kirá's friends Gambeat y La Grooving Familia from France. Gambeat is a multi-instrumentalist artist, bassist of Radio bemba who has accompanied Manu Chao since 1993. He is recognized for his passion for Latin music and his ability to fuse different musical styles such as salsa, dub, reggae and cumbia. Gambeat created a new live project that fuses electronica with live percussion. For this show, Gambeat will remix traditional cumbia songs and put on a show surrounding himself with Pablo Senties, straight from Mexico, who will add a Latin world touch to this live.

This vibrant electro-cumbia show, blending Gambeat's deep bass and rhythmic power with Pablo's infectious melodies, makes the Grooving Familia's live show unique in its genre by fusing traditional cumbia, dub, hip-hop and electro elements.

Victoria Ska and Reggae Festival / Society Entertain. Educate. Unite. https://linktr.ee/Vicskareggaefest

As we approach this long weekend we just wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of the funders, sponsors and supporters of Victoria's 25th Anniversary Ska & Reggae Festival for making this year our best one to date. 😎🔥❤

We will forever remember this year's festival and we are grateful of their support!

Onwards and upwards for many more joyful and successful years to come!

We know we all just had a full week of wonderful at Victoria's 25th Anniversary Ska and Reggae Festival. But we have more epic shows to experience together next week!
We are over the moon to reconfirm Kirá Chao (son of Manu Chao) will be coming to Victoria on Saturday, July 6th at Centennial Square for our Summer Splash! 😎💥 Doors at 4pm. Best of all it's FREE, ALL AGES and Licensed for 19yrs+!

This show is going to be nothing like we've ever experienced. Kirá Chao draws from traditional Brazilian folk and combines traditional rhythmic styles such as Baião, Maracatu, Carimbó, Pisadinhaou and Pagodão Baiano, with other Latin genres including salsa, cumbia and bolero. Following in the footsteps of his father - Manu Chao, Kirá's music brings out raw emotions of love, happiness, or feelings of protest against injustice. His music celebrates collective unity to fight for a better world while celebrating being alive on this earth. We feel so excited and fortunate to have this legend in the making born from a living legend we still love.

Also joining Kirá Chao are their friends Gambeat y La Grooving Familia from France. Gambeat is a multi-instrumentalist artist, bassist of Radio bemba who has accompanied Manu Chao since 1993. He is recognized for his passion for Latin music and his ability to fuse different musical styles such as salsa, dub, reggae and cumbia. Through discovering how much people enjoy his DJ sets, Gambeat created a new live project that fused his DJing with live percussion. After that Gambeat and the Grooving Familia was born! Further pushing the boundaries of his musical universe, Gambeat will remix traditional cumbia songs and put on a show surrounding himself with Pablo Senties, straight from Mexico, who will add a Latin world touch to this live.

This vibrant electro-cumbia show, blending Gambeat's deep bass and rhythmic power with Pablo's infectious melodies, makes the Grooving Familia's live show unique in its genre by fusing traditional cumbia, dub, hip-hop and electro elements.

Rounding out this already monster bill will be Victoria's own La Chuparosa!! La Chuparosa is the brainchild of Canadian producer and multi-instrumentalist Dallas Budd (aka Battery Poacher). Featuring Victoria Ska & Reggae Society alumni Nostic, Costa Rican vocalist Miss Tica, Cuban percussionist Hector Ramos Mejias, and Budd himself on guitar/bass/beats. La Chuparosa has carved out a sound that’s entirely its own. In fact, one would be hard pressed to find anything that comes close. Rolling tropical bass, psychedelic desert guitar, thought provoking lyrics and lustrous electronic beats heavily seasoned with live percussion. Picture Latin Electronica shaking hands with Afrobeat and Cumbia in a kaleidoscopic vortex of love.

When you put these bands one after another we're in for a Latin groove dance party like no other!

Victoria Ska and Reggae Festival / Society Entertain. Educate. Unite. https://linktr.ee/Vicskareggaefest

We know we all just had a full week of wonderful at Victoria's 25th Anniversary Ska and Reggae Festival. But we have more epic shows to experience together next week!

We are over the moon to reconfirm Kirá Chao (son of Manu Chao) will be coming to Galiano Island Community Hall on Friday, July 5th! Doors at 8pm. All Ages and Licensed for 19yrs+! Kids 10 and under are free. 🔥

This is a rare lifetime opportunity to see a legend in the making in an intimate setting. How often does one get to experience a show of this calibre on one of Canada's most beautiful Gulf Islands?

Tickets available now here: https://bit.ly/3KIAvzZ on TicketWeb Canada or get hard copies from Daystar, Oxeye or from Yokon Hartman.

This show is going to be nothing like we've ever experienced. Kirá Chao draws from traditional Brazilian folk and combines traditional rhythmic styles such as Baião, Maracatu, Carimbó, Pisadinhaou and Pagodão Baiano, with other Latin genres including salsa, cumbia and bolero. Following in the footsteps of his father - Manu Chao, Kirá's music brings out raw emotions of love, happiness, or feelings of protest against injustice. His music celebrates collective unity to fight for a better world while celebrating being alive on this earth. We feel so excited and fortunate to have this legend in the making born from a living legend we still love.

Joining Kirá Chao will be Victoria's own La Chuparosa!! La Chuparosa is the brainchild of Canadian producer and multi-instrumentalist Dallas Budd (aka Battery Poacher). Featuring Victoria Ska & Reggae Society alumni Nostic, Costa Rican vocalist Miss Tica, Cuban percussionist Hector Ramos Mejias, and Budd himself on guitar/bass/beats. La Chuparosa has carved out a sound that’s entirely its own. In fact, one would be hard pressed to find anything that comes close. Rolling tropical bass, psychedelic desert guitar, thought provoking lyrics and lustrous electronic beats heavily seasoned with live percussion. Picture Latin Electronica shaking hands with Afrobeat and Cumbia in a kaleidoscopic vortex of love.

When you put these bands one after another we're in for a Latin groove dance party like no other! 😎💥