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Get ready, all you reggae fans! Humboldt’s long-running music festival Reggae on the River is returning from its dormancy to once again bring three days of camping, dancing and other festival things to SoHum for the first time since 2018. 

On Wednesday, the Mateel Community Center announced this year’s return of the festival, which will take place, as is tradition, on the first weekend in August. 

“It’s back! @reggaeontheriver 2024 Will be held on August 2, 3, & 4!!,” the Mateel posted to its Facebook page. “There have been some obstacles along the way but we, the volunteers, staff, and Board of Directors of the Mateel Community Center, in conjunction with Hot Milk Entertainment, are so excited to announce that Reggae on the River will be returning again this year.  So please come join us in celebrating this gift of music and togetherness!”

From the Mateel’s Facebook page

Reached by the Outpost on Thursday afternoon, Elena Worley, office manager for the Mateel Community Center, said this is the first time the Mateel is working with Hot Milk Entertainment, a production company based out of Mendocino County. 

“We’re keeping it local this year,” Worley said, adding that she is very excited to work with a smaller, local partner, rather than some of the bigger, non-local companies the Mateel has tried to work with in the past. 

Folks might remember the huge conflicts between the Mateel and previous event partner People’s Productions in the early 2000s – often referred to as “the Reggae Wars” – that eventually led to People’s Productions taking over the event under the name “Reggae Rising.”  

The most recent partnership was penned in 2018 between the Mateel and High Times Magazine’s production company, which had agreed to assume all responsibility for the festival’s artist lineup, marketing and monetization efforts. But High Times canceled the event in 2019, due to “the extraordinary expenses of trying to put on an event in such a remote location.” The company said it would focus on bringing back the festival in 2020, but we all know what happened that year, and Reggae has not happened since. 

Now, after the county approved a five-year permit extension for the festival earlier this year, the 2024 event will take place on Dimmick Ranch (also known as County Line Ranch) near Garberville. 

As far as details of the festival, Worley couldn’t provide much (she suggested we reach out to the Mateel’s media manager, who didn’t get back to us before publication). As far as we can tell, no entertainers have been announced yet, but the poster promises multiple stages at the event. Tickets go on sale on Jan. 17, with “rude boy special pricing” starting at $249. 

There is also an opportunity to win two free VIP tickets on the festival’s website and it looks like all you have to do to enter is send in your own “dream lineup for Reggae on the River.” Fun!