The Florida city of Tamarac is finalizing preparations for its highly anticipated second annual Yard on the Lawn Music Festival, scheduled to take place Saturday, June 6 at the city’s sprawling Sports Complex. This year’s flagship event will be led by iconic dancehall pioneer Buju Banton, bringing a legendary Caribbean musical talent to the heart of South Florida.
Founded and curated by Tamarac Vice Mayor Marlon Bolton, a Jamaica-born public servant, the festival serves as the city’s centerpiece celebration of Caribbean American Heritage Month. In an exclusive conversation with Observer Online, Bolton emphasized that the gathering is far more than a standard music concert: it is a deliberate celebration of Caribbean culture, shared identity, and community excellence.
“Yard on The Lawn is more than entertainment — it is a celebration of Caribbean culture, identity and excellence. Bringing Buju Banton to Tamarac reflects our commitment to creating world-class cultural experiences that unite people from all backgrounds while honoring the rich Caribbean influence that helps shape our city and South Florida,” Bolton explained.
After a successful debut in 2023 that drew more than 8,000 attendees and featured Grammy-winning reggae group Morgan Heritage as the headliner, the 2024 iteration is expanding its lineup to showcase a wider range of Caribbean musical talent. Joining Banton on stage this year will be celebrated Jamaican reggae artist Orale Johnson and breakout Haitian star Rutshelle Guillaume, who has built a global fanbase with more than 2 million Instagram followers and over 30 million total music streams across platforms. Bolton added that event organizers will continue announcing additional supporting performers and special guest appearances in the weeks leading up to the festival, with sets from local DJs, regional Caribbean entertainers, traditional cultural performers, and homegrown local talent already locked in to highlight the dynamic diversity of the region’s Caribbean community.
Bolton shared detailed context for the decision to tap Banton as this year’s headliner, noting that the artist’s decades-long discography aligns perfectly with the festival’s core mission. “Buju Banton’s music has uplifted generations with messages of perseverance, empowerment and truth. We are honoured to welcome a living legend to Tamarac. The overwhelming response to this year’s festival proves that Yard on The Lawn has become something truly special, not just for Tamarac, but for the entire South Florida community,” he said. “Buju Banton was chosen because he represents excellence, legacy, culture, and global impact. Yard on The Lawn is more than a concert — it is a cultural movement designed to celebrate Caribbean identity and connect generations through authentic music and shared experiences. Buju’s catalogue spans decades and includes music that speaks to perseverance, empowerment, spirituality, resilience, and social consciousness. His influence reaches far beyond reggae and dancehall; he is considered one of the most impactful Caribbean artists of all time.”
While the festival was designed first and foremost to serve the large Caribbean diaspora across South Florida and the broader United States — including Jamaican, Haitian, Trinidadian, Guyanese, and other West Indian communities — Bolton stressed that the event was intentionally built to be inclusive of all cultural and age groups. Data from last year’s debut bears this out: attendees included multi-generational Caribbean families, young working professionals, dedicated reggae and dancehall fans, local community leaders, millennial and Gen X audiences, and out-of-town tourists and music enthusiasts from a wide range of cultural backgrounds. This diversity reflects the makeup of Tamarac itself, a city with a fast-growing, vibrant Caribbean-American population that has shaped the region’s cultural identity for decades.