SST is very happy to preview Sound System Culture Mini Festival, a live screening programme and street party in Huddersfield, UK, on Sunday 15th September, details here.

There’re several reasons for why we’re so pleased to be associated with Let’s Go Yorkshire for this event. One is simply that it is a little-known fact that the town of Huddersfield in Yorkshire in the North of England was at one time the epicentre of the UK reggae scene – back in the 1980s. One of SST’s jobs is to unearth these pockets of sound system culture where ever in the grassroots we can find.  

Huddersfield was the first case study chapter SST commissioned from Mandy Samra and Gopal Dutta within months of our start in 2021; read about it in this blog. The research also involved filming interviews with the leading figures on the local sound system scene which you can view on our YouTube channel here.  

We had already worked with Mandy. For many years she has been a champion for sound system culture, as her events like this continue to testify. Before SST, Brian D’Aquino, Leo Vidigal and Julian Henriques formed Sound System Outernational (SSO) as a research group in Goldsmiths – laying the foundations for SST. It was Mandy we teamed up with for our first SSO gathering back in 2016, see here. Amongst many connections, she introduced us to the South African sound system Kebra Ethiopia, see here.

This brings us full circle to the final reason we are so happy about this event – the screening programme includes Survival: A Rasta Sound System Gathering the film SST commissioned from Kebra Ethiopia about the  South African sound system scene. Enjoy.  

EVENT DETAILS

Let’s Go Yorkshire, in collaboration with Sonic Street Technologies, presents a celebration of reggae sound system culture through film, music and dance!  

𝗙𝗜𝗟𝗠 𝗦𝗖𝗥𝗘𝗘𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦   (introduced by SST’s Julian Henriques)
𝟮 – 𝟰𝗽𝗺 𝗮𝘁 𝗡𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗤𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗿  

This special programme of documentaries and shorts celebrates reggae sound system culture from across the globe. Featuring Peoples Sound (UK), Rockers Sound Station: Tales of the Kingston Dub Club (Jamaica), Bass Foundation Roots (India), Word, Sound, Power (Colombia), Street, Gender and Sound (Brazil), Heavy! A Congress of Sound Systems in Melbourne (Australia), and Survival: A Rasta Sound System Gathering (South Africa).  

𝗥𝗘𝗚𝗚𝗔𝗘 𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗘𝗘𝗧 𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗬   
𝟰 – 𝟴𝗽𝗺 𝗼𝗻 𝗪𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘁 (𝗼𝘂𝘁𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗡𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗤𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗿)  

Join us for a family friendly street party featuring Huddersfield’s original selectors Papa Burkey (Earth Rocker Sound System), Bigga Puss (Shakatone Esquire Sound System) and Riddim Master (Ras Ambassador Sound System), spinning a musical selection of ska, rocksteady, reggae and roots, powered by Zion Inna-Vision Sound System. Plus, live performances by Mash It Up Parang Band, Phoenix Mas Band and Legacy Steel Band.  

This event is supported by Arts Council England and forms part of Kirklees Heritage Open Days. For more info email soundsystemculturetour@gmail.com  

Check the Facebook event for more details