To celebrate our 10th anniversary, in 2015, we decided to organise an International Weekender. Three nights, on the 3rd weekend of June, five locations, many local and international deejays, free Jamaican food and a boat cruise on the Sunday. It was also the very first time of Phil Bush’s Sounds & Pressure valve powered sound system on the European continent.

Its success motivated us to do it every year, around the same time. In 2016 and 2017 we collaborated with the local King Shiloh sound system, and then we decided to invite a different European sound system every year. In 2018 we had Phil Casey’s Heavy Boss Tunes Sound System from Switzerland, and in 2019 Germany’s Red Stack.

From 2017 the Sunday boat cruise got replaced by a home cooked Jamaican bbq at the great Checkpoint Charlie, becoming a beloved steady fixture since then.

The 2020 15th anniversary edition didn’t go through because of covid, and the same went for 2021 and 2022.
In the meantime Cafe The Zen, the marvellous location of our Friday do’s, had closed down (luckily for them just a couple of weeks before covid struck), and Akhnaton, the just as marvellous location for our Saturday afternoon and night do’s, proved financially too challenging: Amsterdam’s accommodation prices had become too expensive (also thanks to the world’s highest tourist taxes, after Hawaii) so it was done with the international character of the Weekender, that has always been ran totally DIY and no profit, just like all Reggae Recipe events.

We scaled it down to a more local two nights weekender, in Jamaica Lounge on the Saturday and in our trusted Checkpoint Charlie on the Sunday. But in 2026, VAT raises on accommodation prices and Council limitations on the activity of guest houses made it way too expensive for us to host our guest selectors and MC (considering also the free entry on both events and the impossibility of charging an entrance price), definitely putting a lid on this annual event, which ended with our 20th anniversary edition in 2025.

We thank all selectors, MC (big up Champian!) who played at our Weekender, and the personnel of all the venues that hosted our do’s.

As for our local authorities, our mayor, aldermen and officials… we hope that when you die, it will be of boredom.










































  
 
So it all started...

Sunday 19 June 2005: the official debut of Reggae Recipe and one of the nicest days of my life.

The first Reggae Recipe website was live since April and now we had our first party, in the now shut De Diepte, a rock club just behind Dam Square.

That day was a scorcher (literally!), and the Oosterparkfestival was also being held on that afternoon, featuring, among other world music acts, the recently formed Ska Cubano, on the axis London-Havana.

I remember cooking a lot of Caribbean finger food in the morning, then walking to the park (I lived in East Amsterdam back then) to meet up with my friends from the Amsterdam Scooter Club, present in full force for this event, and sharing my food and drinking beer with them under the baking sun.

Then into the tent for a stunning performance of this great combo, featuring members of The Trojans, Top Cats and experienced Cuban Musicians.
It was a delightful sweat bath!

Shortly after them, on a small side stage along one of the park's main paths, a very young band was having his second show ever. My then partner in crime Marco aka Charley Rhythm had already told me about this 'uptempo reggae' band on the bill. That name certainly meant something interesting, that's what I thought. Those fellas definitely had a clue...
And, yes! They definitely had. And their name was THE UPSESSIONS!
Fantastic own compositions in a distinctive early reggae style, with a touch of The Specials for good measure.
Marco was quick enough to immediately book them for September and since then they became the most featured act in our programming.

Time to go home, change clothes, pack the records and head for De Diepte.
The place was empty and we started with an empty room too, fearing a flop of our debut (it was a Sunday too, so not so much hope for the place to fill up later on). But eventually the place really got packed, and among the crowd we could spot the faces of a few people we gave the flyer to earlier in the day.

Then the party came to an end around 3:00 or 4:00, and it was time to pack our stuff, grab our payout (20 euro each!) and drink our last beer sitting down in Dam Square in that warm night, toasting to the start of something nice.

Which it definitely has become.

Flavio