Reggae on the River Confirms 2026 Return as Mateel and Hotmilk Part Ways
Press release from the Mateel Community Center:
The Mateel Community Center alongside Hotmilk Entertainment want to announce a change for Reggae on the River, but never fear-the event will continue in 2026. Stay tuned for more information on next years’ dates later this week.
Both parties express deep mutual respect and pride in what they’ve achieved together. Hotmilk has chosen to move in a new direction and fully supports Reggae on the River’s continuation, while Reggae on the River/Mateel supports Hotmilk’s future path as well. They extend a public thank-you to CLR for hosting the festival over the past two years.
Hotmilk adds a parting message: sharing heartfelt gratitude for being part of the event’s legacy and thanking fans for their support and the joy they brought, noting that their positive impact is beyond words.
The official statement is co-signed by both the Mateel Community Center and Hotmilk Entertainment.
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Always love this event. Hearing all those Harley’s rumble gives me goose bumps. Thank you too are local chapter too continue this fundraising party for are local homeless.
Yep…
Indubitably…
And I always loved the Redwood Run, and hearing all those Marley’s mumble…
But that’s a different chapter…
Redwood Run became our go to after Reggae went crap and dancehall…Sure miss it now
All the weed money’s gone, all the Harley riders are dying or dead, even Toys for tots is falling apart.
This is all by design.
Miss those shovelheads.
Two steps forward, one step back. I’m trying to stay positive, but I’m not holding my breath.
The press release reads like a masterpiece of insincerity — Mateel and Hotmilk have such mutual love and respect they can no longer work together — remember when ROTR was a labor of love instead of a cash cow?
Ironically- when it was a “labor” of love it was the fattest cash cow ever!
Reggae on the River had an operating budget that flirted with 7 figures and its insanely reliable gross income (routinely sold out by April) met all event costs and netted the Mateel their entire annual nut plus site improvements!
ROTR easily cleared $225,000 for the MCC. Every. Single. Year.
But in 2007 some ‘people‘ got greedy and thought that heisting the use-permit and rebranding the event was a good idea.
Betrayal sucks out the love.
It divided the community irreparably and terminally disabled the goose.
Yes but that’s going back quite a ways there- like back into last century. I remember the first year the ads were run in SoCal and some of us thought “Well that’s the beginning of the end!” It was always about raising money- money to rebuild the Hall. And money is important- we all have bills to pay. But making some money and greed are two different things. Where does one stop and the other begin? That is the question that was never answered and which destroyed the community…
”But making some money and greed are two different things. Where does one stop and the other begin?”
The descent down the slippery slope may have started earlier but the line was clearly and irrevocably crossed when “people” decided (conspired?) to use ROTR to make their personal fortunes instead of support the Mateel.
True-that was a farce for sure! Everybody screaming “Community Community Community” while lobbing public insults at each other. Crazyville. I saw bad behavior from folks on both sides. When we all should have been on the same side…could not participate and never have since. And to invite Tom Dimmick into the circle- that was some creative cockamamie bullshit…has everybody been paid yet?
I hope it’s not getting scheduled during Dead on The Creek
I hope it gets scheduled during CustieFest….I mean Cannafest LOL!
Thank you HotMilk. Might this be the time to return to pure Roots reggae?