YettiFest delivers reggae-friendly bill at Bull and Bear.

Compared to big-name festivals like the Jazz Festival, The Bach Festival and Cali Roots, all of which usher big out-of-town audiences and media attention, YettiFest is an underdog’s affair.

Last year’s inaugural event, eagerly touted as “a festival for the people, by the people” by its creators, drew large crowds to the sun-drenched back patio at the Bull and Bear Whiskey Bar and Taphouse.

The dozen reggae and rock bands on last year’s bill included popular regional acts The Guidance Band, Pacific Grown and Outer Edge, and local reggae favorite Tony Miles and classic rock hero Troy Oshann. This year, 30 acts recruited from as far away as Brazil extend the event to new places.

HIRIE and Jordan T – both of whom played at Cali Roots this year – and the Latin-infused Brazilian reggae princess Kellsa headline YettiFest 2016.

HIRIE credits her refreshingly accessible pop-slanted reggae to a “niche” sound native to the Hawaiian Islands where she was raised. She also refers to her six-piece band and their eclectic tastes. “We’re not roots [reggae], we’re not from Jamaica, so we bring something new.”

Even with nationally touring bands headlining, YettiFest is still definitively a local phenomenon that showcases local talent.

Vlad Shvartsman, aka Mello Cello, lives in Monterey part-time, and says this is his creative home. He praises the region as a “cradle for the arts” and by that logic YettiFest as an incubator. As the artist Mello Cello, Shvartsman played reggae in the Caribbean. “I love the pulse, the feel, the groove of it,” he says in a French-Canadian accent. “The slow backbeat translates to the cello.”

There is an added layer of philanthropy to YettiFest 2016. All proceeds from a silent auction and raffle with prizes donated by local businesses will benefit nonprofits the Big Sur Fire Brigade, Special Operations Warrior Foundation and Guitars not Guns.

Popular elements returning from the inaugural festival include live painting, food from Wolffman BBQ, a crafts fair, psychedelic light shows by Lumiere Alchemist, and fashion shows on Friday and Saturday nights. Weekend passes for all three days of the festival are available in advance online and receive priority at the door.

YettiFest 6pm-midnight Friday, noon-midnight Saturday and Sunday; Sept. 3-4 at the Bull and Bear Whiskey Bar and Taphouse, 479 Alvarado St., Monterey. $12-$40 (ages 21+). Free/Thursday kick-off party and free/Monday closing party. 655-3021, www.BullandBearCA.com.