Regardless of how much you know about reggae music, you definitely know about Bob Marley. And I think we can all agree that he knew what he was talking about when he said, “One love, one heart, let’s get together and feel alright.” Which is exactly what the Calgary Reggae Festival is all about.

The Calgary Reggae Festival was created in October 2003, when six Calgarians came together with the same vision – to increase the awareness of reggae music in Western Canada, and to provide an avenue where those tunes could be heard. The Calgarians came from all different backgrounds, such as DJ’s, broadcasters, promoters, musicians and event planners. They’ve been working ever since to educate the general public about the unifying power of reggae music.

That power is no joke. Since its creation, reggae music has influenced a range of people, cultures and lifestyles. The Calgary Reggae Festival gives this community the opportunity to connect, learn about and enjoy live music while providing artists the chance to share and spread the love. And love they do spread – this year the organization is donating several admission tickets to newcomer families, in hopes of allowing individuals who may not otherwise have the ability or means to attend the festival.

Another way this festival helps spread cheer? By using VolunteerLocal, instead of those pesky spreadsheets. When you’re recruiting over 150 volunteers, manually entering application forms into Excel is a pretty loveless job. “VolunteerLocal has saved us time and has helped us to focus on engaging volunteers in more meaningful ways,” says Liz Kehler, Volunteer Engagement Coordinator of the Calgary Reggae Festival. “I love the Export function, the ability to communicate to all or just specific groups, the dashboard for a quick overview of stats – there’s too many to list, it really covers all our needs!”

“VolunteerLocal organized everything for me beautifully, which is really what you want as a volunteer coordinator,” says Kehler.

Ready to join the community? Register to work at the beer garden, sell raffle tickets, get silly in the kids zone and more and become a one love volunteer today.

Photos courtesy of Calgary Reggae Festival