Victoria Ska & Reggae Fest - Reminding the world of the importance of community, through music.

in

Thursday afternoon in Victoria’s inner harbour: clear skies, cool breeze off the water, and all the funky beats a music fan could ask for. As the warm sounds of Trippycals, a band fronted by siblings from Mexico, kicked off the first day of Ska Fest 2026, I realized how much I’ve come to love the festival, and its commitment to being first and foremost a festival about community. Trippycals were followed up by Alpha Centauri, a Canadian MC by way of Zimbabwe with a smooth flow and an even smoother backing band, and the festival was officially underway.

Alpha Centauri doing the damn thing. Photo courtesy FOTO (Filter Out the Ordinary).

Now entering its 27th year, the festival is as much a part of the fabric of a Victoria summer as tourists downtown or Canada Day fireworks at the parliament buildings. And how could it not be? With some of the most affordable ticket prices for a festival anywhere, the free inner harbour shows on Wednesday and Thursday, and a killer lineup of musicians from around the world, Ska Fest has something for everyone. Watching the crowd on Friday during Melafrique's incredible set (I really dug them. If you get a chance to check them out, do it!) and then Clinton Fearon's excellent reggae jams, it was like looking at a cross-section of the city – old folks rocking out, parents with their kids, teenagers, that one guy with the stuffed monkey who I've seen at every single Ska Fest I've attended – music lovers of all stripes represented.

Against All Authority basking in the power of musical communion. Photo from FOTO (Filter Out The Ordinary).

Saturday night at the curling club, as the thunderous sounds of Five Alarm Funk washed over the crowd, looking at the people around me, sweaty, joyful, alive, some of them friends, some strangers, all of us joined together in a singular experience, it served as a strong reminder that events like this are important, especially in the sometimes dire times in which we live. Tanika Charles singing about relationships in her inimitable voice is a thing everyone can understand, an experience that resonates with everyone. The Black Seeds came all the way from New Zealand, half a world away, but their music bridges that distance with ease.

I had at least three people reach out directly to tell me how much they loved Tanika Charles’ performance. Photo from the big dawg, FOTO (Filter Out The Ordinary).

This then is my review of the 27th annual Victoria Ska and Reggae festival: in this, the year of our lord 2026, music is important, the arts are important, shared experiences are important, community is important. If you can look at the person next to you and realize they too are rocking out to the same damn song you are, then you have recognized in them and in yourself your shared humanity, a thing as important now as it's ever been.

I had a glorious time.

But did have you as glorious a time as Thomas Towers? Probably not. Photo courtesy FOTO (Filter Out The Ordinary).

#festivalseason – After 19 years, Victoria Ska & Reggae Fest burns as bright as ever.

in

#festivalseason – After 19 years, Victoria Ska & Reggae Fest is burning as bright as ever.

It dawned on me the other day that after Shambhala, Victoria Ska & Reggae Fest is my second longest-running festival in terms of personal attendance. If you were able to hear 95% of the music coming out of my speakers, that stat would probably surprise you. But the truth is that ska, along with punk, and hip – hop, were the soundtrack to my youth and pretty much all of my early 20’s. When I first heard about Ska Fest back in 2010, I thought it would be a one off kinda deal; after all, I was still living in Edmonton.

But here we are, almost a decade later, having attended my eighth Ska Fest, and living about a kilometer from the very reason I ever came to Victoria in the first place. It’s funny how things can change over such a short amount of time. But while there are plenty of things that change over time – there’s also some that never need to.

This year Ska Fest kicked off much like my first as the lineup was relatively unknown in my books. Sure, there were a few big names that most people would notice, but as I dug deeper the unknown outweighed those I knew. Thankfully, the good thing about not knowing a lineup is that it leaves you with plenty of new favourites to discover…and discover I did!

Read More

#festivalseason - Victoria Ska & Reggae Fest, bringing together musical worlds.

Full disclosure – I'm highly involved with the Victoria Ska & Reggae Society and Festival. The people who are part of it, who help put it on, have become like an extended family. I don't see them all the time but when we do it's always lovely and once a year we all get together downtown and throw a big party for the city. As such, I'm around this stuff so much, around the band and artist bios constantly for months on months. Their music becomes the soundtrack to so much of my working day. I know this lineup inside and out. But favourites always crop up. This is just a list of the first five that came to my head. I'm writing this intro after the body of the article was written and I regret not being able to put Kingston Rudieska on this list. That's going to be really special. Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad is going to be wild, I mean as “wild” as a roots reggae show can get, I suppose. Anyways, if you like the idea of concerts as places for people from different communities and age groups and such, to gather and dance off the Weight of Life together, then you should probably come to Victoria and dance in a couple of weeks.

Yellowsky

Wednesday, June 20 – Lucky Bar w/ Bousada (Full band)

Each and every year, without fail, Victoria Ska & Reggae Fest leaves me with at least one artist that sticks with me, that I know I'm going to be a fan of for a long time. Last year that artist was Yellowsky. A captivating performer, Yellowsky is one of the finest examples of the hip-hop and reggae coming together I've heard in years. Of Plains Cree First Nation and South American bloodlines, Yellowsky is coming at this with a completely unique perspective. Since opening for the mighty Mike Love at last years festival, Yellowsky released his debut album Mixed Medicine. The album is probably the best melding of gritty hip-hop and that good street reggae that I've encountered this side of Jamrock. This is saying a lot. But this dude is legit. Inside the brick embrace of Lucky Bar, this is going to be a helluva set from Da Lion. (I'd also like to put this wish out into the world: Yellowsky rapping over some beats from Bousada and his band late in the evening. Fingers crossed, friends!)

Read More

5 Questions with Rags #52a - Illvis Freshly (Phil and Doyle)

in

If you've been paying attention to West Coast music at all in the last couple years, you've probably seen the Illvis Freshly around. Legit: They're pretty inescapable and it's easy to see why. Their heavy-hitting, ultra-fun, partyrific electronic rap songs are sure-fire ear-crushers, made for those days and nights with all the friends. As the summer finally takes hold of us all, Illvis Freshly's music is even more relevant, assured to keep you moving in time with all this glorious weather. And as we enter Festival Season, they're bound to show up in your face and plug your ear holes up with funky rap goodness, including summer kick-off shows at two of BC's premier festivals, Victoria Ska & Reggae Fest and Tall Tree. We got a lot to cover here, in fact so much to cover that this interview is TWO PARTS, so let's get after it and get this thing started. In part one of this monstrous 5 Questions we get down with Phil and Doyle, the non-verbal duo that gives Illvis Freshly their distinct live-electronic hip-hop sound.

1. Do you remember the first album you bought with your own money?

Doyle: Oh yeah, Bush – Sixteen Stone.

Favourite song?

D: “Come Down.”

When's the last time you listened to the album?

D: I heard “Machinehead” on the radio the other day and thought, “This is the first fucking CD I ever bought.” Apparently it was a hit 20 years ago, like '96. Gavin Rossdale, he's a handsome man.

Phil: My first album was Sum 41 – All Killer No Filler.

And the last time you listened to it?

P: I listen to it once a week. It's on my phone.

What's your favourite track?

P: “Handle This.” I'm younger than these guys so when I was 10 buying my first album, that was the album for a kid like me.

D: That was a little later than Bush, yeah.

P: They had to change their name to Bush X after awhile right?

D: It was Bush X actually when I bought it.

(Danimal): There was another band called Bush so they had to add the X. The other band stopped being a band so they got to drop the X then. They were still called Bush overseas.

I think I remember listening to Bush with you in Grade 7, Doyle. Didn't you do a project on one of those songs?

D: Yeah, I did “Glycerine.”

Read More

5 Questions with Rags #3 - Joshua Szirmay-Corrales

in

Josh is a rad guy. He's one of the youngest music-nerds I've ever met and he knows his shit. His passion for the shit is seemingly limitless and he's even managed to set down the path of Music Promoter, helping with the curation of the Studio CMCT Stage at this year's Rifflandia Festival. Actually, I met Josh at Rifflandia a couple of years ago when I overheard a conversation he was having with the mighty Dane -the fearless head of the Victoria Ska Society- about Reggie Watts. Reggie was set to play later in the day and Dane hadn't a clue what Watts was all about. I couldn't help but chime in and Josh wholeheartedly agreed with all of my gushing. See, good people like Reggie Watts. You can't deny that shit!

------------------

Usually I end with the question from the last person, but I’m going to ask this one first because of the nature of the question. Alain Williams, comedian who used to be around town and now he’s in Vancouver, he asked this question and it’s simply…“Sup?”

 Sup?....WHAT?! Ummm…wow. Oh my god. Nothing much, I guess. Not much. I feel like I should answer more but the fact is just…wow. I was not ready for that.

Read More