The Del Mar Fairgrounds quietly dropped its long-running reggae festival from this year's San Diego County Fair after fielding complaints last year about blatant pot-smoking in front of youngsters at a Ziggy Marley show.

Reggae fans and performers say they believe the reggae festival was canceled to avoid a repeat of last year's controversy, and they are criticizing fair officials for not being upfront about the reason.

Fairgrounds spokeswoman Linda Zweig said “scheduling problems with the promoters” were the reasons no reggae acts were booked this year. However, despite repeated requests, Zweig couldn't provide examples of reggae artists who were contacted with offers to perform at this year's fair.