New York City’s biggest dancehall celebration is back!
On Monday (June 15), Billboard confirms that Reggae Fest will return to Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, on Aug. 15. Jamaican dancehall sensation Masicka will headline. Presale begins Wednesday, June 17 at 10:00 a.m. ET, with the general on-sale launching Thursday, June 18 at 10:00 a.m. ET.
“It’s his time,” Reggae Fest founder & CEO CJ Milan tells Billboard. “Masicka is in his prime right now; ‘Slip & Slide’ [on Di Genius’ ‘Hill & Gully’ riddim] is big; he’s definitely one of the hottest [artists right now]. And he’s also just an amazing person. I’ve worked with him before, and I just think he’s ready.”
Masicka is certainly having a moment. Last month (May 8), Grammy-nominated reggae hitmaker Protoje gushed about the star’s unique position in contemporary dancehall, telling Billboard, “Every time Masicka does a feature, he lifts the song and stays on topic…. He’s flawless on every feature.”
Armed with an ever-growing catalog of hits, including “Whites,” “Mute,” “Tyrant,” “Rich Sex” and his Caribbean Music Award-winning “Hit & Run” collaboration with Shenseea and Di Genius, for many, Masicka is the definitive male contemporary dancehall artist. His major label debut album, 2023’s Generation of Kings, reached No. 2 on Reggae Albums, and last year’s Her Name Is Love EP recently picked up a dancehall album of the year nomination at the 2026 Caribbean Music Awards.
Last year’s Reggae Fest (Aug. 30, 2025) featured a star-studded lineup of Caribbean talent including Shenseea, Capleton, Elephant Man, Alkaline, Mr. Vegas, T.O.K., Tony Matterhorn and Tantro Metro & Devonte. Barclays Center hosted seven Caribbean-headlined concerts in 2025, with those shows generating 20% of the arena’s total gross revenue and drawing over 80,000 fans. Milan’s Reggae Fest has been instrumental in the growth of Caribbean music at Barclays, hosting six events between 2024 and 2026 alone. In 2026, a single Alkaline’s New Rules show, powered by Reggae Fest, accounted for approximately 8% of all concert attendance at the venue year-to-date.
“Barclays is, to me, the Mecca of dancehall because it’s right there in Brooklyn,” says Milan. “Who wouldn’t always want to have their events there? Even the security is Caribbean! It’s just the whole vibe of the neighborhood, and I love it. Brooklyn is dancehall to me. When Bounty [Killer] came, he was excited because it was in Brooklyn. Being able to jump on a train, get in an Uber or even walk to see your favorite dancehall artist is unmatched.”
With Brooklyn remaining New York City’s hub for Caribbean culture — the borough officially designated the Little Caribbean district in September 2017, and the West Indian Day Parade delights Eastern Parkway every Labor Day — these Barclays Center shows epitomize the value of serving your local audience. Milan’s adherence to that approach allowed her to scale Reggae Fest from its 2015 dance party origins at the Rooftop at Pier 17 to sold-out arena shows rivaling genres like Afrobeats and K-pop.
“The way Afrobeats was running arenas and spanking dancehall started insulting me a little bit, especially someone who’s been doing this since 2015,” Milan remembers. “We were on the back burner, and nobody was talking about dancehall. [For that Labor Day show], we had Mavado, Elephant Man, Aidonia and Mr. Vegas, and we sold out. That was my first arena show ever, and the first time a full dancehall show had been played at Barclays.”
A few months after the first Reggae Fest at Barclays Center, Grammy-winning Jamaican music icon Buju Banton became the first solo dancehall act to headline Barclays Center in November 2024. Vybz Kartel followed with three sold-out shows in 2025, celebrating his long-awaited return to an American stage following his release from prison during summer 2024. Back then, Billboard News went backstage with Kartel at his first headlining Barclays show, where he brought out guests like Rvssian and Spice. Arguably, his second of two back-to-back sold-out shows was the bigger treat, featuring an eye-popping collection of surprise guests, including Ne-Yo, Fabolous, Lil’ Kim and YG Marley.
“The Kartel shows, of course, were historic,” Milan gushes. “The second night [had all those guests] because Kartel lost his voice! We improvised that. Moliy contacted us to come out for ‘Shake It to the Max,’ and I said, ‘If we get Shenseea and Skillibeng, I’m down.’ I told Kartel the night before, and then all of a sudden everyone was hitting his manager to come through. Lil’ Kim, Ne-Yo, Fabolous; there were other artists, but we couldn’t have any more.”
With the full lineup to be revealed in the coming weeks, expect this year’s Reggae Fest to keep up the incredible vibes NYC has been coasting on since the Knicks clinched their drought-ending championship on Saturday (June 13).
Check out the official Reggae Fest 2026 announcement below.
