How beautiful it always is when the month of July comes closer, for me, it marks the start of the festival season. Finally, I can get my cameras out of the dust again, since shooting indoors gets harder and harder due to changing vibes at concerts. Being out in the festival press pit releases that adrenaline that fellow photographers probably recognise.

The first festival in July is the annual Summerjam Festival in Cologne, Germany, held at the Fühlinger See, to be precise. A beautiful spot around the Fühlinger Lake in the North Rhine-Westphalia area. The Summerjam festival yearly pulls in around 30,000 visitors who come to see their favourite Reggae and Dancehall stars, and lately also more and more Hip-Hop and Afrobeats.

On this year’s bill, it was no different, but since the platform is called World A Reggae, I mostly focus on the Reggae and Dancehall performances, and this year those didn’t let me down. This time, I will not focus on the performances themselves, since I learned that having an outspoken opinion on artists’ performances, people will always pull it into the negative, and even approach me directly with racist remarks and personal insults. After Covid, the life of a journalist hits differently.

But what I can say is that the festival delivered top-notch performances by Eesah, Inner Circle, Kumar & Third World, Beenie Man, Morgan Heritage with the return of Una Morgan, Shenseea, Teejay, Lanae, Alborosie, Mr Vegas, Burna Boy, Etana, and of course, there was Vybz Kartel. But nuff said about that, footage doesn’t lie.

I want to thank the Summerjam organisation for their amazing hospitality and German friendliness. I hope to be back next year (or I try another festival where I haven’t been yet).

Enjoy the pics!
Danny Creatah