MATT’S BBQ 2026 REVIEW 🇯🇲🔥
Matt’s BBQ celebrated its 20th Anniversary this year, bringing together thousands of people for a day of dancehall, afrobeats, soca and Caribbean culture. Let’s start with the cons because FAHWUD keeps it real.
Every artist brought energy and gave the crowd something to enjoy.
🚗 The Journey
First things first… the location.
Plenty people mi speak to seh dem nearly turn back before dem even reach. The journey was long and for some people it felt like mission impossible getting there.
For those who drove, another strange issue popped up. Many patrons paid for private parking, only to realise there seemed to be little or no checking by security or staff throughout the day. If people are paying extra for parking services, there should be better management and communication around this.
VIP… Was It Really VIP? Now let’s talk about VIP. Respectfully… VIP felt very overrated. The toilets were arguably worse than some of the standard facilities and the VIP bar experience didn’t feel much different from general admission.
The biggest shock? The drink prices. £10 for a single shot?! 😭
At them prices, mi nearly ask if me could bring mi own bottle next year. For the extra money spent on VIP, there simply wasn’t enough exclusivity to justify the upgrade.
🔊 Sound Problems All Day
This was probably the biggest disappointment of the entire event. The sound quality was poor throughout large parts of the day.Microphones kept cutting out. Tracks stopped unexpectedly. Volume levels were inconsistent. Some performances suffered because of it and honestly, somebody needs to check on the sound engineers because the technical issues became impossible to ignore.
🎤 The Performances
Now for the positives. The artists absolutely delivered.
Big respect to:
🔥 Wiley
🔥 Shystie
🔥 Wohdee
🔥 Stylo G
🔥 Stush
🔥 Mr Killa
🔥 NSG
🔥 Ayetian
Every artist brought energy and gave the crowd something to enjoy. Our only criticism would be that several sets felt shorter than expected. Just when the crowd started getting fully locked in, some performances were over.
🇯🇲 The Crowd Saved The Day
What Matt’s BBQ always gets right is the people. Despite the issues, the crowd came ready to party. The vibes never stopped. People were dancing, networking, linking up with friends and creating memories from start to finish. Sometimes a great crowd can carry an event and that’s exactly what happened here.
🏆 Final Verdict
Was it the perfect event? No. Did it have problems? Definitely.
Would we recommend VIP? Probably not. Would we travel that far again? Honestly… probably not.
But can we respect the fact that Matt’s BBQ has managed to survive and celebrate 20 years in the UK event scene?
Absolutely.
Not every event reaches that milestone and for that alone, respect is due.
FAHWUD Rating
⭐ 5.5/10
Big up the organisers, the artists and every single person who came out and made the best of the day. The event may not have hit the heights we expected, but one thing is certain…The people dem brought the vibes. 🇯🇲🔥
— FAHWUD MEDIA 📍
“If It A Gwaan, We Know Bout It.”
