Reggae Fest in Louisville

The Dictionary of Jamaican English says the term “reggae” comes from a word for ragged clothes. Bob Marley is said to have claimed it was derived from a Spanish term for the music of the king — el rey.

At the 18th annual Kentucky Reggae Festival at the Water Tower yesterday, reggae fans offered their own definitions.

Alice Carman, who lives near Iroquois Park and wore a hat in the traditional Jamaican colors of black, red, green and yellow — with built-in dreadlocks — said, “Reggae is a cultural expression.”

To “Dread” Olson, who has real dreadlocks that he wore yesterday in a ponytail but doesn’t give out his real name, “Reggae is a beautiful music — because it’s tribal.” Olson lives in La Grange but said he spent a couple of years in the Jamaican capital of Kingston.

To Heather Ghent, a Kingston native who has lived in the United States for 40 years and is now an Army major stationed at Fort Knox, reggae is “spiritual,” among other things.

“You can’t help but get up and dance when you hear it,” she said. She said she embraces the music — but not the Rastafarian religion or sacred herb — ganja, or marijuana — that often goes with it.

“That wouldn’t go over too well in the Army,” she said.

To Tonya May, who lives in Indian Hills, just across River Road from the Water Tower, reggae is “fun.” To her husband, Rob, it sounds “island-y’ and reminds him of his home state of Florida.

He said the festival provided a good excuse for getting the family out of the house, while their real estate agent held an open house.

The Mays brought their 15-month-old daughter Maggie, who had no opinion of reggae, which her mother said she’d never heard before.

To Almira Allred, president of the nonprofit Jamaica Association of Louisville, reggae is “the music of the world” and “music with a message.”

“It is fulfilling,” said Allred, who grew up in St. Andrew, outside Kingston, and came to Louisville in 1972, by way of New London, Conn., where her husband was in the Navy.