Out of the Caribbean: A Taste of Reggae Sumfest Hosts Gully vs Gaza Reunion
Kartel and Mavado to Headline a Scaled-Down Sumfest Following the Impact of Hurricane Melissa Reggae Sumfest is not sitting this year out, but 2026 will look nothing like the festival its loyal audience knows. Downsound Entertainment has announced that this year’s event will not be held at its traditional home at Catherine Hall Entertainment Complex […]
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Kartel and Mavado to Headline a Scaled-Down Sumfest Following the Impact of Hurricane Melissa
Reggae Sumfest is not sitting this year out, but 2026 will look nothing like the festival its loyal audience knows. Downsound Entertainment has announced that this year’s event will not be held at its traditional home at Catherine Hall Entertainment Complex in Montego Bay, where major hotel properties and key infrastructure remain under repair following the devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa in 2025.
In place of the usual week-long, multi-night festival, organisers have confirmed a single one-night event on 18 July at Plantation Cove in St Ann, titled A Taste of Reggae Sumfest. CEO Joe Bogdanovich has been careful to frame the move as temporary.
“It is important to be clear that this is not a relocation of the festival from Catherine Hall. Montego Bay remains the home of Reggae Sumfest and a vital partner in the festival’s history and future,” he said.
To compensate for the scaled-back format, organisers have secured the biggest possible headline. Vybz Kartel and Mavado, former rivals whose Gaza versus Gully feud defined an entire era of dancehall, will share the Sumfest stage for the first time in nearly two decades.
Bogdanovich has been explicit that the night is not a clash revival. “The rivalry between Vybz Kartel and Mavado shaped a generation of dancehall fans. It fuelled creativity, produced an incredible catalogue of hits, and sparked conversations across the Caribbean and the diaspora. For us at Reggae Sumfest, this moment is about celebrating that legacy, not conflict.”
The circumstances are unfortunate, but the outcome may help restore a sense of energy and cultural momentum within the genre. A festival that lost its core infrastructure has instead turned to culture, and few moments in Jamaican music carry more weight than Gaza meeting Gully on the same stage in peace.
At the height of their feud, the clash between the two camps reshaped dancehall, with diss tracks, cultural division, and intense fan loyalty on both sides. The moment can be compared to more recent high-profile rap rivalries. Time, however, has shifted the narrative. Both artists have faced legal challenges, one more prominently than the other, and have since matured. This shared stage is therefore less about rivalry and more about unity in the name of Jamaica.
