Summerjam festival/ Germany

Today next festival, this time in Germany. Summerjam is known worldwide as one of the biggest reggae festivals in Europe. It takes place in Cologne, situated on an island of a lake this time since 30th June till 2 July. This edition is very special because we are going to celebrates 32 years of the fest. You can find there different kind of artist as G-Eazy, Beenie Man, Jah9, Meta& the Cornerstones, Natali Rize (one of my favourite female artist with a hypnotizing voice), Damian Marley, Alpha Blondy, Protoje, Danakil and others. From all the festivals I already presented, this one is the best for me because of the interesting line-up and variety of the music. Again, as all reggae festivals its children friendly and every kid up to the age of 12 has a free entrance. There are 3 stages, main one- red stage, green stage and dancehall area for these who wants to dance a little. The tickets for the moment costs 125 Euro inculding Camping zone, so if there are any enthusiasts of sleeping in the tents, they won't pay any extra money for the camp. What's more there is a European-wide movement which motivate people to appreciate nature and take care of it during a big events like Summerjam. For more information check out the official site of the festival https://en.summerjam.de/

 Bless up, Paula

One Love Reggae Festival/ UK

Hey, y'all today I'm going to present you next reggae festival which I found out interesting. This time it's a British fest called One Love Festival which take place from 1st to 3rd September located in Colebrooke lakes, Kent. You can find there five different stages, starting with One love stage (the main stage), going through Dubshack, Saxon Sound Marquee, Natural Mystic Woodland stage and finishing with Madiba stage. You can find there artists like U-Roy, Horace Andy, Channel One Sound System and many more. As most of the reggae festivals, One Love offers also something more than music- personal education. During these 3 amazing days, you can go for different zones as Reggae Education Marquee, The Space of Love (family friendly) and BBQ area. What's more the festival makes a special space for these who does not want to sleep in tents. Camping and Glamping is a shared area for these who have their tents and others who need more luxury. It's of course more expensive because the prices oscillate between 300 pounds for 2 people in unfurnished glamping for 3 days and 900 pounds for 4 people in deluxe glamping as well. Even when the prices can scary you, this kind of luxury is offered only there so it's worth the price. Here some pictures of the glampings:

Tickets for the weekend of good vibes cost 125 pounds for an adult, 50 pounds for youths and 45 pounds for children. There are different variations of the tickets so it's up to you to check them and choose the best one, if interested. That's all for today, hope I encouraged you a little with this nice n positive fest to go there.
Check the info at the official site of One Love Festival here https://onelovefestival.co.uk/
Bless up,
Paula

Problem in America- does racism still exist there?

America, also known as a country of freedom, peacemakers and dreams. But that country clearly has a problem with racial selections. The fact is that dozens of national polls show more than thre quarters of us don't believe we have a problem with racial tension in America. Moreover, not everyone wants to  admit that he or she is a rasist (because of diverity of the society).However,
a carefully chosen questionnaire created by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago with a range of possible answers that evaluated up to seven different characteristics about a variety of groups, religions and ethnicities showed that Americans are far away from being tolerant and equal. Almost 60% of non African-Americans still do think that Black people are less intelligent than whites. Morover, the statistic said that people of color fancy to choose the welfare (including social benefits) than work.This way of thinking comes probably from the slavery times while blacks were treated as things not humans. But in 21th century, in the world of globalisation, when every person shouldn't be judged by the color of the skin, the racism still does exist. The barbaric way of shooting black men whose ,in most cases , are considered criminalists by white police offcers shows that problem isn't resolved yet. Former president of the USA, Barack Obama said "We have made enormous progress in race relations over the course of the last several decades. I have witnessed that in my own life and to deny that progress, I think, is to deny America's capacity to change". We can not disagree. America as the other countries changes and race relations has changed in the past years. We have to remember that in the last century the slavery still existed, so generally the situation for black people improved but it's still far away from being perfect. America needs a new conversation about inegality and racial problem. The kind of inner awarness which has to be improved in Americans and of course other nations too.
Bless up,
Paula

 

Reggae festivals- Ostróda Reggae fest

Hey y'all, today I'm going to write a little about the line up at the biggest reggae festival in Poland, Ostróda reggae festival. I must admit that I'm there almost every summer because reggae music gives me a lot of peace n hapiness. I definetely prefer to go at the festival where I can meet wonderful and loving people than at the sea or in the mountains. Ostróda is a town in Mazury, around 5 h by train from Poznań. This year it's 17 th anniversary of the festival and I can't wait, fa real. This event lasts 3 days, from August 10th to 13 th. If someone will decide to go there at the last minute, you do not have to worry about place to sleep because there is a camp! Getting back to line up, you will have a possibility to see top reggae artist (as always because Ostróda's promoters try their best to book only the best musicians) as:
Shaggy (jam), Steel Pulse (UK), Big Youth (jam), Dreadzone (UK), New Kingston- the winners of last year's World Reggae Contest, my favourite Steven Newland (as independent artist, before he was the lead singer in Rootz Underground) and many many more.
This festival is a great chance to meet another cultures in one place. What's more there is always a big choice of food from Africa or Jamaica. During these 3 days we have our own Jamaica in Poland. What is important, this festival is also kids friendly (free pass for children under 12 yrs old), there is a separated space for playground, soap bubbles and other forms of animations. I can personally recommend it because when my sister was 3 yrs old I took her to Ostróda and she loved it! No hate, no racism, just a paradise. You are all VERY welcome. :)
For more info visit the official site of the festival:
https://www.ostrodareggae.com/ 
 
Bless up, Paula

 

Reggae festivals in Europe/ Rototom Reggae Sunsplash

Hey y'all :) I would like to set my mind on top reggae festivals organized in Europe in my next posts. Today I want to present the biggest one- Rototom Reggae Sunsplash which takes place in Benicassim, Spain from August 12th to August 19th. This edition is dedicated Africa and its ancestral culture. Furthermore, everyone will have a chance to find something for them selves because there will be 10 musical areas composed of Main Stage, Lion Stage, African Village, DanceHall, Dub Academy, Roots Yard, Jumping, Carribean Uptempo, Riddim Club and Sun Beach. What is important, the festival organizes also cultural events and lectures in which some popular artists are involved. These cultural areas as Social Forum or Reggae University where we can reflect freely on how to bulid a better world but also learn more about reggae culture and history. And something what plays a huge role in my life- food. You can find there many different cuisines from Jamaican to African, from vegan to vegeterian so everyone can find their favourite one, not only junk food. Coming back to the line up. This year you can see, as always, some top reggae/dancehall artists like Gentelman, Ky-Mani Marley, Steel Pulse, Christopher Martin, Luciano, U-Roy, Mad Professor or Don Carlos. Of course, female artists as Treesha, Nathalie Rize, Nadine Sutherland or Nkulee Dube can't be missed. For more information you can visit the official website of the festival: http://www.rototomsunsplash.com/
I'm a big fan of that kind of experience, good music, food, sunshine and dance.. Ah.. The real world stops existing and we can get out of the reality for a moment!
 Bless up. Paula

Strength of a Woman!

Hey y'all! Today is a special day because we celebrate an international women's day all over the world. I want to wish every lady days full of smile, positive mind and many reasons to be proud of yourself! We have to encourage and value each other, don't forget that noone will understand u better than another woman. We shall all rise and show that the place for woman is not only in the kitchen, we have to remove all these crazy stereotypes about us and show who rules the world! Every of us is special and perfect in our imperfections! I wouldn't be myslef if I didn't at least add a song (outta jamaica) to this post..

So don't you under estimate
The strength of a woman!

Jamaican cuisine

Hey y'all! Today Im gonna write a little about the best cuisine "inna da world"- Jamaican cuisine.. Very tasty, fresh,really aromatic and.. colorful :). I have to say that I cook better in a jamaican style than in polish but Im still developing my skills as well. The key in this kind of cuisine are fresh vegetables and fruits (unfortunately, in Poland, during the winter, it's hard to get) but we can overcome everything so it's always possible to get something nice. The real king in that cuisine, it should be a part of every dinner (as potatos in Poland) is.. Rice and peas in fact it it rice and bean but don't ask me why they call it like that ;) I couldn't stop eating that when I tasted it for the first time, for real!! Its often served with a vegetable sauce and/or with a fish.. An heaven on a plate, I can say.. Next, the most popular is Ackee and saltfish- in the company of boiled bananas and dumplings. A dish which really surprised me at first was a soup.. Im not a big fan of polish soups because Im not full after eating it.. But jamaican soup is a different thing! There are no mixed vegetables, sometimes there are really big pieces. My favourite one is corn soup which is a little spicy. And now, few pics of what I was talking about, zeeen! Maybe it will encourage u to try it but the best are always made by Jamaicans, no doubts! So if they prepared it for u, u would fall in love with all u eat, they have their own style, u feel that vibe even in the food. ATTENTION! IT SMELLS SO GOOD WHILE COOKING!:))

Rice and peas with vegetables:

  
Rice and peas with salmon (my favourite one):
 
Corn soup:
 
 and ackee and saltfish: