Eighteen years after they faced off at Sting, Vybz Kartel and Mavado shared a stage in Jamaica. Shortly after 2 a.m. on Sunday, July 19, 2026, the two closed A Taste of Reggae Sumfest: Gaza vs Gully — a one-night edition of the festival held on Saturday, July 18, at Plantation Cove in Priory, St Ann, instead of its Montego Bay home — with a set the Jamaica Observer clocked at two hours and described as hit after hit.

“This a history innu,” Mavado told the crowd. “Memba dat,” Kartel answered. “We ago gi unnu supm unnu never see yet.”

Why St Ann

The move was announced on March 9. Catherine Hall Entertainment Complex, Sumfest’s home since 1993, took catastrophic flooding and structural damage in Hurricane Melissa last October, and the west’s hotels and event logistics were still recovering, so the usual week of beach party, street dance, all-white, blitz, sound clash and two festival nights was condensed into one, some 100 kilometres east. “It’s important to be clear that this is not a relocation of the festival from Catherine Hall Entertainment Complex,” Downsound’s Joe Bogdanovich told the Gleaner. “Montego Bay remains the home of Reggae Sumfest.” The motto for the year: “Sumfest adapts; Sumfest survives; Sumfest delivers.”

“What we’re recognising is a defining era in Jamaican music history,” Bogdanovich said of the Kartel–Mavado billing. “The rivalry between Vybz Kartel and Mavado shaped a generation of dancehall fans. It fuelled creativity, produced an incredible catalogue of hits, and sparked conversations across the Caribbean and the diaspora.” The supporting cast ran Queen Ifrica, Shawn Storm, Harry Toddler, Marcy Chin, Jamal, Ayetian, Young Wild Apache and Shauna Controlla, with DJ Gabrielle “Gabby” Davis and Daneilla McKenzie hosting, per the Observer, and a tribute to Fantan Mojah, who died four days earlier.

Full circle

They came dressed for 2008: Kartel in full camouflage, Mavado in black leather and a ski mask — the same looks as their Sting clash — and opened under fireworks on the Anger Management rhythm, Kaboom reports. Then the catalogue: Mavado’s “Real McKoy,” “Weh Dem A Do,” “Top Shatta Nah Miss,” “Chat Too Much,” “Amazing Grace,” “Squeeze Breast,” “Bicycle,” “Ever Blessed” and “Never Believe You”; Kartel’s “Gaza Army,” “Broad Daylight,” “Kill Dem All,” “Weh Dem A Go,” “Murder Informa,” “Never Scared,” “Love Dem,” “Picture Me & You,” “Beg You (A Touch)” and “Come Home,” with the live debut of “God and Time,” the title track of his latest album. Stacious joined Mavado for “Come Into My Room”; Kartel brought out Gaza Indu to sing Spice’s parts on “Romping Shop” and “Virginity”; Mavado introduced newcomer Jay-A alongside Dexta Daps for “Pain.” The two performed “Hype Life” together live for the first time.

It was Mavado’s first performance in Jamaica in more than ten years. The night ended on “Hope and Pray,” “God Is the Greatest,” “The Messiah” and “Thank Yuh Jah,” and then the song that started it all. “This a the first song me and him ever do,” Kartel said before “Happiest Days.” “Listen to it good and see how everything come full circle.” “This isn’t history repeating itself,” he wrote afterward, “it’s history redeeming itself.”

The Observer called the crowd sold out; Kaboom reported more than 35,000 in attendance and Songlines more than 20,000. “Gaza/Gully in 2008 was a very combative energy but Reggae Sumfest 2026, it was different,” cultural studies professor Donna Hope told the Observer. “Their performance reminded people that dancehall culture is alive and well and Vybz Kartel and Mavado are powerful artistes that have matured and now understand the mission and are carrying it out.” The pairing heads next to London’s O2 Arena on September 9 and to Kartel’s Freedom Street festival in Malta.

Listen and dig deeper

Sources: Jamaica Gleaner — “Reggae Sumfest 2026 goes to Plantation Cove for one night only” (Yasmine Peru, Mar 9, 2026); Jamaica Observer — “Mavado, Kartel take Gully/Gaza era full circle” (July 20, 2026); Kaboom — “Dancehall’s Defining Gaza vs. Gully Era Comes Full Circle at Reggae Sumfest” (Shaquille Richards, July 19, 2026); Jamaica Observer — “One Night. One Stage. One Historic Sumfest.” (July 25, 2026); Songlines — “A Taste of Reggae Sumfest (Plantation Cove, St Ann, Jamaica)” (Patricia Meschino, Aug 21, 2026). Set length and crowd size vary by outlet and are reported as given.

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.