PIERCY – The syncopated beat of Reggae has echoed for years around Dimmick Ranch and French’s Camp. The ranch’s Reggae on the River festival annually attracts thousands to its August hemp fest on the banks of the Eel River, south of Eureka.

This year, though, organizers are caught up in a legal dispute over the event, from which proceeds go to help fund a community center. It seems the center, the Mateel Community Center in Redway, fired the producer of the 24-year-old festival, People Productions.

The producer then countered by planning its own event on the same dates and named it “Raggae Rising.” At last check, both events have full-blown web sites and were offering tickets. And both have pulled together a full regalia of rasta-heads as performers, without duplication.

Two shows. One site. The dispute has been turned over to an arbiter. Maybe, somehow, the words to the Eureka Times-Standard of ranch owner Tom Dimmick, who has so far sided with the producer, will act to cool the situation: “Let’s work together.”

Return to Current Issue