Errol Blackwood, who's worked with the Clash and Frank Zappa, as well as fronting the Wailers, will play ReggaeFest '007

The Calgary International Reggae Festival, which began four years ago with six passionate reggae lovers and $600 in personal financing, has grown into a much-anticipated annual event. That modest investment registered the festival organization as a not-for-profit society, purchased a web domain and rented a mailbox. This enabled the society to approach sponsors. Vibe 98.5 came on board almost immediately. Talking to festival co-founder Leo Cripps, it isn’t hard to see why. His enthusiasm and passion are infectious and contagious. “There was never any doubt that there was going to be a year two,” he says with conviction confirmed by hindsight.
    Cripps, well known to Calgarians as the host of CJSW’s Caribbean Link-up (22 years and counting), is the ultimate, passionate reggae fan. He talks frankly about the festival’s struggles and triumphs. “As a start-up festival, we’re not trying to be the biggest,” he explains. “Everybody that is part of this shares the same passion.” From the top down, everyone involved in the festival gives their time voluntarily. “We joke that we work at our day jobs so we can do our real job, which is the festival,” he says.
    That job isn’t always easy. One of the most difficult tasks for an upstart festival is picking a weekend in which the competition for public attention is minimal. ReggaeFest 2004, which was held at Burns Stadium, saw the new kid in town going head to head with the firmly established Afrikadey and the now-extinct Blues and Roots Festival. Headliner Wayne Wonder’s band nearly got stuck in Florida due to hurricane re-routings. Management concerns and other demands also caused numerous unforeseen costs to quickly add up.
    “The first year, halfway through, we were sitting with a sharp stick up our ass and an artist’s manager calling all the shots,” Cripps says bluntly. “At that point, there was nothing we could do. The one thing we learned from that experience is that you can spend a lot of money on big-name acts, but you won’t necessarily draw a crowd. The festival itself is our focus, not the artists. We’ve got an opener and a closer and a lot of acts in between. Everybody that’s in our festival is an artist that we want to be in our festival.”
    This year, Cripps says, festival organizers received 500 applications for the 15 available spots. Word is spreading quickly and globally. The current lineup features Messenjah founder Errol Blackwood alongside Jamaica’s golden-voiced Richie Stephens, the same country’s “Ambassador of Peace,” Abijah. Also featured is charismatic Antiguan singer-songwriter Causion, whose spiritual, socially conscious music blends reggae soul and pop music. Also new is the Reggaela (Saturday August 11), an opening fundraiser gala at the Martha Cohen Theatre lobby, and Picnic in the Park, a free barbeque at Priarie Winds Park on the following Sunday.
    As far as the secret to ReggaeFest’s success to date, Cripps lavishes praise on the numerous volunteers who return year after year, bringing others into the fold with them. “I think one of the key reasons we’ve been successful and we keep growing is that every year we move forward with new ideas and new talent, and we invest our earnings and minimize our debt.” Calgary International ReggaeFest seems to have found the winning formula of passion and pragmatism to ensure it will grow and thrive for years to come. “The best feeling, the most memorable memory is being back stage, about 8:00 (last year) watching Tinga Stewart perform. You get to that absolute state of humility, seeing people enjoying it and loving it and saying to myself, ‘This is why we do this!’”