London Reggae Fest Founders Launch Talent Search for Emerging Canadian Artists

The overwhelming demand to perform at London Reggae Fest forced Vencotte "V" Merchant and Brenda Guzman into an uncomfortable position: turning artists away. Their response was Canada Reggae Rise, a London, Ontario-based talent-search and development program designed to give emerging reggae artists the industry footing they couldn't find on their own.

Merchant and Guzman, who co-founded London Reggae Fest, built Canada Reggae Rise through their label VIP Level Records. The program connects participants with mentorship, training, and industry support, and offers workshops covering songwriting, stage presence, and navigating the music industry. Submissions for London Reggae Fest 2026 are open, with the organizers calling for reggae talent across Ontario.

For Merchant, the initiative is personal. "As a writer and producer, we have experienced roadblocks, empty avenues," he said. "Through this, we have realised how we can support creating an ecosystem, and that's what we have done." He has also said he wished a program like this had existed earlier in his own career.

Guzman framed the workshops as more than skills training. "The workshops are a way to let them know there's assistance out there, and there's people that are willing to come out and help you," she said. "We're trying to bridge that gap between the artists and the music community."

To fund the initiative, the organizers have applied for grants through the City of London and the London Arts Council, and are actively seeking additional partners to help build out the program. Canada Reggae Rise is still taking shape, with confirmed mentors, application timelines, and eligibility details yet to be publicly announced, but the infrastructure behind it, rooted in the same label and community network that drives London Reggae Fest, suggests the pipeline they're building is already in motion.