SunSka

SunSka is the reggae weekend at the Domaine de Nodris, in Vertheuil, in the Médoc. In 2023 the opening-night piece says the festival was turning 26. In 2025 Jean-Charles Galiacy calls it the 28th edition. The two counts do not land on the same start: 26 years in 2023 point to 1997, and a 28th edition in 2025, if none was skipped, points to 1998. The 2025 weekend drew, in the same piece, more than 20,000 people over three days, some thirty thousand, and the photo line says about ten thousand a day. The 2025 photos are by J-C. G. The sheet now puts a Plan B on 29, 30 and 31 May 2026 at the Château Liouner, in Listrac-Médoc, with a limited capacity. That date has passed and there is no account of the night.

On Friday 2025 Tiken Jah Fakoly opened. He was 57, jumping inside a cape, and the musicians were in white. From the start he sent Africain à Paris and Ça va faire mal. Flavia Coelho, from Brazil, took the prize for the hottest show: a basketball jersey and fringed boots. No loose title from her. She came back at night, invited by MC Solaar. The photo line writes Coehlo, with an extra h. No title from that return either.

On Saturday 2 August, at sunset, the Natty Dread stage went tight in the throat. Naâman had died of a brain tumor almost six months, to the day. His first SunSka was in 2012. In 2023 he had been a headliner. Fatlabs and others whom Galiacy calls frangins built the tribute. The slogan: la vie est un cadeau. On Skanking Shoes the whole crowd took off their shoes. Galiacy says it was the most followed concert of the weekend. Early that Saturday, Mariaa Siga was playing her first SunSka. She is from Casamance, in Senegal. Alone, with a guitar and a drum machine, in front of a few hundred. The hymns, for children on the street or for migrants, carry no title. Mashmanjaka, from Madagascar, leave no title either. Late in the afternoon Wiss, the only one left of Israel Vibration, the trio of the 1970s, arrived on crutches and left in a wheelchair, with the Roots Radics. The voice, Galiacy says, was still a young man's. The photo line writes Israël. No title from that set.

On Sunday The Gladiators closed. No loose title. That is how the 28th edition goes out at Vertheuil.

The opening night of 2023, the 26th edition, three days, 40 groups, three stages. In the press space the Ensemble National de Reggae played the cocktail, with no title. Inna de Yard opened the first concert. The third album, Family Affair, was already out. Keith and Tex began with Stop That Train and Down The Street. Steve Newland sang Let The Water Run Dry. Cedric Myton, Youthman. Winston McAnuff danced with no loose title. Kiddus I closed with L'hymne à l'amour and the group came down to shake hands. Manudigital came up with Caporal Negus. They opened on the collaborations with Queen Omega, Pupajim, Kalash and Panda Dub: the piece does not put those people on the stage. Mumbaï 808 played, a nod to L'Entourloop, waiting backstage. Manudigital brought out the Casio MT40. The singalong was Only Just Begun, the tune with Joseph Cotton. He said he had finished the album Step Up the day before, with a November release. The single Step Up, with Joseph Cotton and Bellyman, is not noted as sung that night. Patrice was on the One Love stage. The writer had one ear there and the other at the press talk. Super Lolo brought the photos of that set. The title that remains is Good Vibrations. Smokey Joe, who is Mat Perrein, and The Kid, who is Senbeï, were saying it was their last tour. Two horns and two MCs, MysDiggy and Yoshi Di Original. Hugo went from percussion to guitar. Left are Prohibition 2 and Smokid All Stars. Senbeï laughed because Yoshi had just done the same freestyle on the Tropical stage with Dubamix. The War Is Over tour had its last date set for 13 October, at the salle du Grand Parc in Bordeaux, under the phrase Rendez-nous la fête bordel. L'Entourloop closed the run: Sir James and King Johnny, trumpeter N'Zeng, MCs BlabberMouf and Troy Berkley, and Skarra Mucci for the EP Golden Nuggets. Pushé, the piece with Biga Ranx. Lift Up Your Head, from the album La Clarté Dans La Confusion. Li Sem. A scratch at the edge of the crowd. The photos of that night are by Laurent Larroque.

1997 is not 1998. Ten thousand a day is not thirty thousand, nor more than 20,000 over three days. Coelho is not Coehlo. Israel is not Israël. Fatlabs is who was there on 2 August. Skanking Shoes is the shoe tune, not a title from Flavia or from Wiss or from The Gladiators. Africain à Paris and Ça va faire mal are Tiken's, on Friday, not the tribute. L'hymne à l'amour is Kiddus I's, not Keith and Tex's. Only Just Begun is not Step Up. Good Vibrations is what remains of Patrice, and the writer was not fully on that stage. The May 2026 Plan B is the sheet now, not a night that was told. The 26 years belong to 2023. So do the 40 groups. Naâman in 2012 is not Naâman the 2023 headliner, nor the 2025 tribute.