Maroon Town, with DJ Rob Moore – Celebrating WemsFest’s 15th birthday!

What a Christmas Party this is going to be !

After last year’s ‘unfortunate mix-up’ we’re delighted to welcome back the band who bring smiles to everyone’s faces and fill the dance floor with joyously uplifting reggae/ska music. DJ Rob Moore will keep the party going !

Early booking advised. Same ticket prices as 2024. Licensed Bar helps support WemsFest.

WemsFest is 15 years old! And what better way to celebrate than to bring some of our favourites back to Westbourne?!

That’s right, Maroon Town’s back!

Expect a blistering night on the dance floor with Deuan and all the gang playing the best original ska, reggae, rap, and dub to get you out of your seat and feeling the beat

Maroon Town are:

Lenval Brown, Sanjaie James, Deuan German, Rajan Datar, Andres Pellegrino, Simon Finch, Aaron Liddard, James Lawrence, & Mindy Juozapavicius

As always, we’ll have our licensed bar serving delicious beers from Langham Brewery

as well as wines, local cider, nonalcoholic beers, and soft drinks

Tickets on sale now at Bookends and Harbour Records Emsworth in Emsworth village, and online at www.WeGotTickets.com/WemsFest

This year our charity bucket on the bar is fundraising for

Cardiac Risk in the Young

, and all profits from bar and ticket sales are reinvested into our local community

The South Side Racketeers, and DJ Rob Moore

Blue Beat, Ska but most of all Jamaican RnB will pour out of the speakers for this classic night featuring 80% of self-penned material along with some all-time classics. When you hear this beat you’ll want to move your feet !

The South Side Racketeers were conceived on a stag night about four in the morning sometime in 2004! Four friends with a common love for sixties Blue Beat, Ska, Jamaican RnB and other music decided to form a band incorporating the above influences into their own material. A few choice cover versions including ‘Ali Baba’, ‘Bartender’ and Renegade’ complemented the bed of contemporary sounding but original cuts written by the four.

The Racketeers without doubt are one of Portsmouth’s finest and certainly one of the most popular bands in the area since the early days of ‘Empitfish’, ‘The Caravans’, ‘Six Gun Sound’ an the early 80s. Now a six/seven piece-piece band playing Jamaican RnB, Trad Ska, with lashings of rare Soul, The Racketeers are not a total covers band with 80% of self-penned material. Charismatic to the end with consistently tight and lively performances, The Racketeers can be seen performing in venues across the south of England. The band have their eyes and ears firmly focused on the future. So, when you hear the beat and want to move your feet just dance to the Racketeers and the sun will keep shining!

Licensed bar helps support WemsFest – As always, we’ll have our licensed bar serving delicious beers from Langham Brewery as well as wines, local cider, nonalcoholic beers, and soft drinks. All profits from bar and ticket sales are reinvested in the local community.

Tickets available now at Bookends and Harbour Records and online here

Doors open 7.30 for an 8pm start – but no admission after 9pm.

If you require special assistance or have mobility difficulties, please contact us in advance and we will do our very best to accommodate you so that you are comfortable.

Please park considerately.

Maroon Town

Maroon Town, whose name is taken from a remote upland community in Jamaica formed by escaped slaves, burst onto the scene in the late 80s with their pioneering fusion of rap, dub, breakbeat, jazz and funk. They have played our WemsFest stage multiple times and every year the audience is left wanting more!

When the London-based multi-racial 8-piece first started out 30 years ago, they were the first ska band to have begun mixing ska and reggae with rap, funk and Latin/cumbia to produce a fresh new world music sound with conscious and uplifting lyrics. Their first album and singles were produced by John Bradbury of the Specials. These recordings propelled the group to get the attention of the international music community and led to extensive touring in Europe, Japan and South America.

A long-standing relationship with the British Council saw Maroon Town perform in over 15 countries from Kosovo to Tajikistan and from Brazil to Brunei playing in theatres, festivals, schools, community centres, universities and even prisons. Their songs have been synched to major Hollywood films and they continue to provide a brilliant stage show!

Still at the cutting edge of creativity their sixth and latest album ‘Freedom Call’ released on the Spanish label ‘Brixton Records’ in 2018 blends conscious reggae, jazz, Big beat ska as well as an up-tempo ska collaboration with renowned Basque Country reggae, rock and ska singer Fermin Muguruza. (Spain, particularly Catalonia and the Basque Country has long been a touring destination for the band)

In 2018 Maroon Town played at Skabour (UK), Boom Town, Freedom Sounds Festival and Querbeat (Germany), the London International Ska Festival and at Foc a la Feixa (Spain – June 23rd) and many other venues. Each month the band run a club night at the legendary Troubadour in London with net profits going to the Alpha Boys School in Jamaica.

The result is a unique musical blend that has hooked fans and audiences from all over the world for over 30 years.

Tickets available now at Bookends and Harbour Records and online here

Doors open 7.30 for an 8pm start

If you require special assistance or have mobility difficulties, please contact us in advance and we will do our very best to accommodate you so that you are comfortable.

Please park considerately.