Reggae Sumfest began in Montego Bay in 1993 and has grown into the largest music festival in Jamaica, and the one international audiences plan a trip around. It runs in July.
The shape of it has stayed recognisable for three decades: a week of events building to two main nights, one leaning towards dancehall and the other towards reggae, both running from dark until the sun comes up. Finishing at dawn is not a boast, it is the schedule.
What it does to the city matters as much as what happens on stage. Hotels fill, flights fill, every taxi is working, and the restaurants and bars along the strip have their best week of the year. For a lot of small businesses in Montego Bay, Sumfest week is a meaningful share of the annual take.
If you are coming for it: book accommodation unusually early, expect to be out all night and asleep all morning, and leave a day at the end to do nothing at all on a beach. If you live here: this is the week to have your opening hours, your prices and your phone number easy to find, because the whole island is searching for you at once.
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