Fourth Annual 'Reggae on the the Lake' draws thousands to Lake Anne Plaza

by Dawn Crosson, Editor

Ras Lidj & the Regg'go band perform a fusion of reggae and go-go music at Reggae on the Lake on Sept. 6. The fusion of the two styles is unique to Washington D.C. Photo by Isadora Guerreiro.

On a hot day last weekend, Reggae on the Lake brought its message of Peace, Love, and Unity to Lake Anne for the fourth year in a row. “That message is the cornerstone of reggae music. Hosting a free concert with such great reggae artists brings everyone from our community together,” said the event’s founder, Ramon Pardo. Pardo is a Realtor (SB: can you put a R in a circle here) and owner of TERRA Properties. He has lived at Lake Anne for over 25 years and is a graduate of South Lakes High School.

This year’s festival featured Mykal Rose from the famous reggae band Black Uhuro as the headliner. New this year was I&I Riddim, a band from Maryland. The festival had 13 sponsors, with Reston Community Center returning as the title sponsor and Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts as a first-time sponsor. Wolf Trap provided two free tickets to their upcoming Ziggy Marley - Burning Spear show to be raffled off. All proceeds from the raffle went to Cornerstones, a non-profit organization based in Reston that has been helping neighbors for 55 years. Their mission is to promote support, advocacy, and community-building for families in need. The raffle this year raised over $3,000.

An event of this size is a challenge to pull off. “There is a lot of work that goes into the planning and execution,” Pardo said, “Our team really enjoys meeting and planning for it, and the reward really comes when we see thousands of smiling faces during the event.”

Pardo began listening to reggae music as a middle school student at Langston Hughes and has loved and appreciated it ever since. With the festival attracting around 5,000 people, it is well on its way to becoming a Reston tradition at Lake Anne.

Photo by Isadora Guerreiro.