Errol Brown, Our Executive Producer Mixing Cultura Profetica in Mexico.

San Diego — 

​Written by Lilia O' Hara (Union Tribune) 
October 18, 2019

Music is very close to the Latin heart.

The genres that Hispanics enjoy cover a wide variety. One of them is reggae, the classic, dance-friendly Jamaican style that will be the focus of Saturday’s debut edition of San Diego Bahía Fest. It will take place at Embarcadero Marina Park North, across from Seaport Village.

The lineup includes Latin reggae bands from several countries. Mike Beltran, one of the festival’s organizers, believes there are enough Latinx Reggae fans in Southern California and Baja California to make it pay off to bring such acts as Culutra Profética from Puerto Rico, Rawayana from Venezuela and Alboroise from Jamaica to perform at Saturday’s 21-and-up event.

Bahia Fest is not just for Latinos, according to Beltran, who hopes the event will draw as many as 5,000 attendees.

“We are focusing on all fans of reggae music, because reggae is the world’s music,” he said. “There isn’t another genre that comes close to it in the ways that it unites people from all cultures. The purity of the beats and rhythms of reggae music transcend language boundaries to the point that, regardless of what language the music is sung in, the soul communicates, not just the tongue.”

Beltran added that in his travels to Brazil, Peru, Costa Rica and throughout Mexico, reggae music is the most common musical genre.

“In every corner of the Americas, from the smallest fishing village to the biggest concrete jungle, you can hear reggae music or find a reggae music fan,” he said.
Saturday’s lineup will also include Tijuana’s Somos Uno, along with Alikla, E.N. Young and Leilani Wolfgramm. In addition to music, an array of food and drink options will be available.

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Jamaican singer Ziggy Marley, the son of late reggae icon Bob Marley, reaffirmed his support for Israel at a recent event in Los Angeles.

Marley was presented with the inaugural special artist’s award for peace at the Creative Community for Peace’s 2nd annual “Celebrating Ambassadors of Peace” gathering. The non-profit, entertainment industry organization is dedicated to promoting music and the arts “as a bridge to peace, while supporting artistic freedom, and countering the cultural boycott of Israel,” according to its website.

While accepting his award on stage, Marley said his bond with Israel started in his teens through the help of his mother and father, whose own father was Jewish. He also addressed efforts by BDS supporters to have artists cancel their concerts in Israel.

“I’ve been going to Israel since I was a teenager…Israel was a storybook place for us. We felt a connection to it through our father, through our beliefs,” he said. “I’ve been going back ever since. We don’t play in Israel for political reason, we play for the people [to] spread our message of justice, love and peace for all people… Going to Israel for me is no problem because we go for the people, not the politics.”

Marley has received pressure by anti-Israel activists in the past to boycott the Jewish state, but said in 2015 that he would never stop supporting the country, “[n]o matter what anybody says or does.”

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