Every year Victoria Ska & Reggae Fest presents a series of free shows at our Ship Point stage, highlighting some of the finest new names in music, both nationally and internationally. Victoria Ska & Reggae Fest XVII is no exception. This is the first of two jam-packed nights of some of the finest live band dance music you're going to see all summer. Headlining this first night spectacular is ORQUESTRA BRASAILERIA DE MUSICA JAMAICNA. This powerful 9-piece blasts out heavy, fun-soaked ska rhythms that never fail to get the crowd pumped up and moving. The band draws inspiration not just from classic Jamaican riddims, but from horror and sci-fi movies as well, imbuing it all with a keen sense for capital “F” Fun. Joining OBMJ for this intense outdoor ska-session will be Portland's own funky ska soldiers, THE SENTIMENTS. The band has established themselves as one of the Northwest's most vital ska outfits, injecting everything they do with good, healthy doses of soul and funk grooves.

Adding more support to the evening are friends of the Victoria Ska & Reggae Festival, old and new. Our old friends in BLACKBERRY WOOD make their triumphant return to the Ska & Reggae Fest, returning from their endless and relentless weirdo-troubadouring around BC and beyond. Their ridiculously high-energy gypsy folk stylings create a dance party wherever the band appears, without fail. *Warning* Trying to stand still during a Blackberry Wood show may result in serious injury. And making their Victoria Ska & Reggae Festival debut is SKARATE KID, storming out of Tel Aviv, Israel. A fine example of the global power of Ska & Reggae music, Skarate Kid has been doing the big work, spreading the culture around their home country and beyond and we can't be more excited to present their Canadian debut to our lovely Ska & Reggae Massive.