The 17th Annual Bob Marley Movement Caribbean Festival sure has expanded since its relatively humble beginnings at Bayfront Park. (Remember a seeming million years ago when tickets were like $10 plus a couple cans of food?) Take that name -- quite a mouthful (though everyone still colloquially refers to it as "Marley Fest"). 
Photo by Benjamin Thacker Jahfe is among the local acts scheduled to perform.
Then, there are the number of sponsors. The official full tagline of the event is "1-800-411-PAIN presents Bob Marley Movements 17th Annual Caribbean Festival and Food Drive, brought to you by 103 The Beat and www.caviny.com." Whew! (And these 411-PAIN people are relentless!)
Luckily though, that expansion also includes the entertainment. Every year's edition of the festival has brought some major stars in reggae/Caribbean music. So far, this year those include, of course, several Marley sons: Stephen, Damian, and Julian. Shaggy, Capleton, and Tarrus Riley also headline.
Local acts include the excellent Miami-based roots reggae act Jahfe, the multiculti Deerfield Beach act the Resolvers, and, in a move that makes little genre sense, Broward's Vega Under Fire. Not to knock the band, but they're a pretty straightforward power-pop-rock act; nothing Caribbean about them.
In any event, the festival has, through the years, remained devoted to charity and collecting those cans of food, so this year is no exception. Tickets are $42 plus a required four cans of food (yay).
Half of the collected cans will go to the Bob Marley Movement's relief partners in Haiti. The other half will go to Curly House, "an organization whose mission is to improve the quality of life for low-to-moderate income individuals and families, the elderly, youth-at-risk, the abused, and HIV/AIDS infected members of the community."
The 17th Annual Bob Marley Movement Caribbean Festival. Saturday, February 27. Bayfront Park, 301 Biscayne Blvd., Miami. Doors open at 2 p.m. bobmarleymovement.com; 305-740-7344
