Vision

Reggae Geel is a two-day music festival in the Belgian region of De Kempen. In 2022 the festival will be up to its 42nd edition.

Reggae is the main focus of the festival, but all genres of Jamaican musical culture get their place on the festival’s four stages. These genres are the following: Ska, Rocksteady, Dub, Roots, and Dancehall. New genres as well as older hidden gems and unknown talents earned a stage at Reggae Geel. Live performances and the typical Jamaican sound system culture intermittently create the atmosphere at the two-day festival, with a varied range of music and vibes.

Reggae Geel brings you an innovative line-up, integrating the latest Jamaican developments into the musical program. We offer you an equal balance of commercial and non-commercial music. But it’s not just music as a form of art that’s present at our festival. You will find a vast range of visual art, street art, nyabinghi, workshops, poetry, and film.

We believe that art is or at least should be an essential and indispensable part of human life. Not only because of its intrinsic power and value as ‘art because of art’. But also because art has the possibility to show human and wordly images that change and/or expand our visions. That’s why Reggae Geel strives to keep the entrance and consumption fees as low as possible. This way the festival is accessible for everybody. We maintain a low financial threshold, a loose atmosphere and smooth regulations. Reggae Geel creates a casual vibe where everybody is able to enjoy the cultural offer.

Important values such as Openness, Respect, Equality, Sustainability, and Hospitality are essential pillars within our organization. The festival of colour, where everyone can be themselves, irregardless of colour, origin, sexual preference, gender, or belief. Reggae Geel is socially critical and wants to form a counterweight to the acidification of society and increasing individualism. Through music, the festival wants to reach people and offer them a "Feel Good" experience, which is a step towards a more tolerant society. The festival can also call itself one of the greenest festivals in Flanders.

Reggae Geel is and remains a grassroots festival. The festival is managed from the bottom up and remains primarily a festival for and by volunteers. The hiring of paid professionals is kept to a minimum. In this way, the festival succeeds in keeping the admission prices democratic and in welcoming a larger audience.

The objective that Reggae Geel has always set for itself is to give opportunities to people who have a bit more difficulty. This objective is achieved, among other things, by having dozens of organisations from the socio-cultural sector, youth movements, the care sector and refugee centres participate in the festival. These organizations provide more than 2000 volunteers without whom Reggae Geel would not be possible. In exchange, these organizations receive a financial compensation from Reggae Geel. In this way, Reggae Geel contributes to a better, more tolerant society and remains a festival by and for all of us. And above all, from all of us.

Reggae Geel: the festival for everyone, sometimes contrary, but always with the aim of making the world a better place. Reggae Geel often goes its own way, without losing sight of the people around it. Reggae Geel is multicultural and open to all ideas and views. But Reggae Geel will never fail to engage in discussion if these views do not fit within our values of respect and tolerance. And for that reason alone, Reggae Geel is unique.

One love, One heart, One aim, One destiny!