WHEN THE bmobile Reggae Sunsplash returns on August 3, after a nine-year intermission, it will be to splashes of water and colour at the Richmond Estate in Priory, St. Ann.
A gently swaying swathe of the colour and lots of the splash comes from a deep blue Caribbean Sea on the estate's coastal edge, white froth pluming behind the Professional Moves Dance Company, poet Steppa and the Kingston Drummers on the seaside amphitheatre stage as they added music, moves and musings to the Sunsplash organisers' layout explanation on Saturday afternoon.
The sound was very clear above the surf and wind.
There should be some splashing and lots of colour, skin tones at that, over the four days of the festival as the arc of a cove, hidden from the main viewing area, is slated for the 'splashers' who wish to make a literal splash in the water. However, with a steady breeze coming in over the sea, there should not be many splashes of sweat on the bodies of those near the amphitheatre, where construction of several wooden booths around trees bent to accommodate the wind was in progress on Saturday afternoon.
The other expanse of colour, but still this time, is the huge level light green field of low cut grass, bordered by the Northern Coastal Highway, which forms the festival's main area, an orange flag marking the centre of the stage positioned to catch the last rays of a dipping sun in front of the performers and its morning splash (if the concerts run until daylight) before the audience.
And across the highway there is a deeper green of foothills, rising into the blue of low mountains topped off on Saturday by low clouds as the intermittent bad weather kept its blustery ways well inland.
