Annual Reggae and World Music Festival Canceled for 2020

"We've had to make the very hard decision."

DULUTH, Minn. – Unfortunately, there will be no jammin’ to songs at the annual reggae and world music festival this year.

“We’ve had to make the very hard decision that we have to cancel just because we’ve been watching and monitoring what the governor and what the state guidelines are and we just don’t see that large groups are going to be allowed any time soon,” said Janna Dreher, chief manager for Bayfront Reggae and World Music Festival.

The fest is canceled for 2020, and leadership has had to reschedule the festival for next year. They say the cancellation will impact many different vendors.

“The sad part about this is how many people it affects because it’s not only affecting our customers but our vendors, our musicians, our Duluth businesses like hotels and restaurants because when you cancel a large event, that trickles to so many different people,” said Dreher.

Leadership says customers understand the rescheduling.

“It’s a really hard decision,” said Dreher. “I’ve hated to do it but we started to let our fans know, and frankly, the customers understand. They’re sad and disappointed but they get it. They’re saying, you know what, we’ll see you next year and they’re looking forward to 2021 when things are hopefully back to normal.”

The plan is to have the festival in July 2021. The exact date hasn’t been set yet.