MONTEREY, Calif.- The rhythmic accents of the off-beat guitar and piano will be competing with the sounds of motorcycles racing at 200 mph around Laguna Seca in Monterey Friday.
Even further up the road, people will be pouring into the Gilroy Garlic Festival, armed with empty stomachs ready to gobble up food that you can smell from miles away.
With such a jammed-packed weekend of events, public relations and media specialist Tanya Moore of Moore Media says the 17th Annual Monterey Bay Reggaefest, which brought in more than 12,500 fans last year, is expected to draw in more than 15,000 this weekend.
Andre Smith, CEO of Reggae Fest, said "the first annual and original founder Robert Brown passed away after the first year. He had the vision of bringing a large reggae festival to Monterey, due to it's beauty and rich history. It already had the Monterey Bay Blues Festival and Monterey Jazz Festival, he thought why not a reggae festival too."
Smith said this weekend is for both the young and the old.
Since 1995, Labor Day Weekend was the time when the Reggae Festival would hold its event on the Monterey Peninsula. It is now the third year since the show was moved to become a mid-summer event.
The festival has grown to be the third largest festival on the Monterey Peninsula, with international artists from around the world.
"Reggae music in general is a unique genre and the festivals that provide this sort of music are equally unique, as they blend many cultures and bring people together from all walks of life, simply for the love of the music," said Moore. "It's a beautiful thing when you see people of all races and colors, laughing, singing, holding hands and swaying to the music. It's creates those last moments that feeds your soul and stays with you for a long, long time. Bob Marley lead the way with his lyrics: One love, one heart, let's get together and feel all right."
There will be plenty of fun in the sun and great food.
Each attendee is required to bring two cans of non-perishable goods, which will be divided into three food pantries throughout the county.
The festival takes place July 27-28-29.
