Rebel Salute has been staged outside Jamaica for the first time. Tony Rebel’s roots festival ran for eight hours from 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 19, 2026, at Miramar Regional Park in South Florida — the ground that hosts the Grace Jamaican Jerk Festival each November — with Maxi Priest, Mykal Rose, Chalice, LUST, Mikey Spice and Tony Rebel himself carrying the bill, the Jamaica Observer reports.

The show had been a long time coming. Rebel Salute Miramar was first set for April 2025, pushed to September, and then postponed again over the threat of unstable weather, according to the Observer’s preview. Then Hurricane Melissa forced the organisers to call off the January staging at Plantation Cove, leaving Florida as the year’s only Rebel Salute. “The expectation for Sunday is sunshine and bliss,” Rebel said on the eve of the show. “We substitute jitters with hard work, trying to have the I’s dotted and the T’s crossed. This means a lot for Rebel Salute because it shows how much we stayed in Jamaica and catered to the world with good vibes.”

Rain, and a key

It rained, lightly, and the crowd came anyway — though how many is disputed. Rebel estimated 7,000; other counts ranged from 2,500 to 4,000, the Observer says, while South Florida Caribbean News put it at about 5,000. A clash of dates with the Rhythms of Africa event at the nearby Miramar Cultural Center did not help. Gyptian and Louie Culture, both advertised, did not appear.

The festival kept its Jamaican rules — no meat, no alcohol, free entry for children under 12 — with dub poet Mutabaruka as emcee, according to Chrismix Radio. Broward County Commissioner Alexandra P. Davis, who is Jamaican, presented Tony Rebel with the key to the county; Miramar, whose mayor Wayne Messam was born in Florida to Jamaican parents, sent commissioners Maxwell Chambers and vice mayor Eddy Edwards. “Having been to Rebel Salute in Jamaica over the years, it was good for folks here to experience this event in South Florida,” Davis said. “The turnout despite rain was great for its first year.”

“I’m very pleased with the response to our debut in South Florida. I think a foundation has been set for bigger things in the future,” Rebel told the Observer. “All the artists worked very good, all my disappointments worked out great. I’m very encouraged and will do it again.”

Rebel Salute began on January 15, 1994 — Rebel’s birthday — at Fayor’s in Mandeville with Garnett Silk headlining, moved to Port Kaiser in St Elizabeth six years later and to Plantation Cove in St Ann in 2013. Rebel has said the Jamaican festival will return in 2027.

Listen and dig deeper

Sources: Jamaica Observer — “All set for ‘magical’ Rebel Salute debut in Miramar” (Howard Campbell, Apr 18, 2026); Jamaica Observer — “Reggae fans turn out strong for Rebel Salute’s Florida debut” (Howard Campbell, Apr 22, 2026); South Florida Caribbean News — “Tony Rebel Shines at Rebel Salute Debut in South Florida” (Apr 22, 2026); Chrismix Radio — “Rebel Salute – a hit in Miramar” (Apr 27, 2026). Earlier reports had given the date as April 18.

Editor’s note: This story is part of an archive backfill covering Jamaican music news from 2022 to 2026. It is dated to the events it reports.