|
Event Information:
The
Reggae Sumfest is the largest
concert festival in Jamaica, taking
place each year in mid-July in
Montego Bay. Sumfest, started in
1993, is officially sponsored by Red
Stripe. It often attracts young
crowds, and features a variety of
Jamaican reggae artists such as
Damian "Junior Gong" Marley and
Stephen Marley, The Mighty Diamonds,
Toots & the Maytals, Beres Hammond,
Tony Rebel, Andy Vernon, Frankie
Paul, and Freddie McGregor,
dancehall stars like Sean Paul,
Beenie Man, Bounty Killer, Elephant
Man, Capleton, and Lady Saw as well
as international artists including
50 Cent, Baby Cham, Rihanna and
Usher (entertainer).
Montego Bay is the capital of St.
James Parish and the second largest
city in Jamaica by area and the
third by population (after Kingston
and Portmore). It is a tourist
destination with duty free shopping,
cruise line terminal and the
beaches. The city is backed by
picturesque low mountains.
Christopher Columbus, when he first
visited the island in 1494, named
the bay Golfo de Buen Tiempo ('Fair
Weather Gulf') The name "Montego
Bay" is believed to have originated
as a corruption of the Spanish word
manteca ("lard"), allegedly because
during the Spanish period it was the
port where lard, leather, and beef
were exported. Jamaica was a colony
of Spain from 1511 until 1655, when
Oliver Cromwell's Caribbean
expedition, the Western Design,
drove the Spanish from the island.
In
1980, Montego Bay was proclaimed a
city by act of parliament, but this
has not meant that it has acquired
any form of autonomy as it continues
to be an integral part of St. James
Parish. Today, Montego Bay is known
for its large regional hospital
(Cornwall Regional Hospital), port
facilities, second homes for
numerous upper class Jamaicans from
Kingston as well as North Americans
and Europeans, fine restaurants, and
shopping opportunities. The
coastland near Montego Bay is
occupied by numerous tourist
resorts, most newly built, some
occupying the grounds of old sugar
cane plantations with some of the
original buildings and mill-works
still standing. The most famous of
these are the White Witch's Rose
Hall and Tryall, both of which now
feature world-class golf courses.
The
city was the subject of the namesake
song by Bobby Bloom in 1970, later
covered by Jon Stevens ten years
later, and was revived by Amazulu to
became a minor hit in the U.S. in
September 1986. Several scenes from
the 1973 James Bond film Live and
Let Die (in which Roger Moore
appeared as Bond for the first time)
were filmed around Montego Bay.
Local
Weather:
|
