Chuck Fenda fires up cannabis festival

Reggae artiste Chuck Fenda recently performed at the Boston Freedom Rally, the largest annual cannabis event on the US east coast.

"This was the largest number of attendees the Boston Freedom Rally cannabis festival organisers had ever seen. They came out to see a reggae artiste. The people wanted to see a reggae artiste because this is something our artistes are at the forefront of for years, the fight for decriminalisation of weed, and at this event, they could smoke any amount of weed they wanted," Chuck Fenda said.

The event, held annually for the past 33 years, had an estimated 100,000 in attendance and also featured artistes like rapper Common. Chuck Fenda thrilled the large throng of weed enthusiasts with songs such as Gash Dem, I Swear and Eternal Fire. The show was part of his 'Eternal Fire' tour that had stops in Kansas City, Cincinnati, Chicago and Brooklyn.

"This event just confirmed once again that reggae is still relevant in North America and this is a show on the east coast ... 100,000 pulled in a park. A Bob Marley alone do that, a history we create. They doubted it ... this shows reggae's potency not just in California or the midwest, but mi ah rise up the east coast as well," Chuck Fenda said.

He made an ardent appeal for the gatekeepers of the industry to place an emphasis back on reggae music.

"We have reggae and we nah promote it and love it like how the outer world love it. Reggae preaches love, reggae pulls people together and we abandon it," he said.