The authenticity of African wax fabrics, their origin, as well as the meaning and symbology of their colours and designs will be the protagonists of the African fashion show that on 17^th August will fill the concerts venue from 18.30 hours.

The initiative, organized by United Minds and the tailor shop Bissap, with the collaboration of Doni-Doni Afrowear and Farafina, aims to present to the festival-goers in the Celebratingafrica edition, the richness of these fabrics, the stories transmitted by their prints and the evolution undergone by the designs worn for decades by whole generations.

A unique opportunity to get closer to Africa, also through fashion.

It is the perfect place to recharge batteries and face the festival day in good shape, both physically and mentally. Free donation therapies, yoga in its multiple variations, talks and debates, healthy cooking shows, aerobics workshops and relaxation through the sound, complete the vital and daily circle of Pachamama, our area for personal growth and reconnection with Mother Earth.

Every day from 13.15 hours, the first 40 minutes will be dedicated to the free donation therapies carried out by the Pachamama team of therapists. Besides, there will be daily yoga sessions: Hatha Yoga, Kundalini Yoga, dance yoga and even partner yoga. Later, after this first dose of energy, it will be the turn of the talks and workshops on sustainable development, agro-ecology or health, which are the values that support the philosophy of this area. Also, new in this edition, there will be demonstrations of live cooking. And then, the agenda will resume its movement with workshops of capoeira, the dances of Reajuste Vital or the workshop of Rio Abierto on bioenergetic movement, together with the one of ‘Raíces en Movimiento’.

The Pachamama programme will bring down the curtain every day with a time slot dedicated to relaxation. Thai massages or Taichi & Qi Gong sessions, an exercise based on traditional Chinese medicine techniques that combines breathing, body postures and mind power. This will be fused together with sound proposals such as the decoding of the music of trees and plants to use it as therapy.

If you are registered in Benicassim and are planning to attend the festival, you are in luck. This year we launch a special promotion that will allow you to buy day-tickets for only 20 euros (two days for 40 euros, three days for 60 euros and so on) and the ticket for the whole festival for just 110 euros, almost half of what it costs at the ticket office for the general public.

To get your tickets, you must go to the ticket office once the festival begins and show your certificate of registration, along with your ID. Tickets are personal and non-transferable.

We also remind you that children under the age of 13, people over 65 and those who accredit a disability of more than 65%, can enter the festival for free.

And this year on Saturday 19^th August, last day of the festival, the unemployed can enter the festival to enjoy the concerts, workshops, debates and the rest of activities for just 5 euros. To take advantage of this discount, you must go to the ticket office with your updated certificate from the SERVEF (not the DARDE) together with your ID. Tickets are nominative and non-transferable.

Find out more about the different discounts and come to enjoy the best reggae this August in Benicassim.

MagicoMundo, the space particularly dedicated to the youngest audience of the festival, will have this year a special area for babies from zero to three years old.

Tactile elements, pedagogical toys and sensory stimulation, as well as wooden boards specifically designed to improve their balance and laterality, are some of the surprises we are preparing for our youngest guests with the help of Family Tree Kids.

As for the news included in this year’s programme at MagicoMundo, in addition to the concerts of ‘Yo Soy Ratón’ and ‘Reggae per Xics’, the NGO Cim Burkina incorporates a workshop inspired by ‘Mama Wasi’. She is a fantasy female character from the West African mythology, through which the little ones will represent the protagonist of the story on a piece of cloth following the ancient batik technique.

The extensive programme to be enjoyed in a few days time will be completed by talks for parents, music sessions, storytelling and traditional games by special guests from other areas. You will also find in the area a collection of giant wooden games from ‘El Pájaro Carpintero’ and ‘Món d'animació-Jugafusta’. And on top of that, the Formigues Festival will collaborate with a series of workshops, where they will teach how to make African masks, which will be worn during the grand finale parade on Saturday 19^th August.

To destroy stereotypes of everything related to Africa is the link between the three new debates added to the programme of the Social Forum.

Afropolitans and Pan-Africanists: contribution of the diaspora in Europe (17^th August), will raise a debate between two points of view: the one of the Afropolitans and the one of the Pan-Africanists. In the first one is Saba Anglana, actress and Somali singer settled in Italy. In the second, the other two guests in the session: Senegalese writer Mamadou Dia and anti-racism activist and professor Remi Joseph-Salisbury.

Africa from the media: the fabrication of stereotypes (Friday 18^th) will analyse the clichés on the continent reflected in advertising, news or films. This session will be chaired by Lucía Mbomio, Afro-descendant, journalist and reporter in ‘Aquí la Tierra’, Gemma Solés i Coll, editor at Wiriko, and Javier Mantecón, cultural manager, founding member and communicator of Afribuku.

Movements and social networks that are changing Africa will show on 18^thAugust how there are groups of citizens and intellectuals in Africa who are transforming the reality of their countries, in turn, provoking a change in their own 'western' perception. Sebastián Ruiz, political analyst at the cultural magazine Wiriko, and Firoze Manji, an expert on social movements, will guide this debate.

Full programme of the 2017 Social Forum

If you want to enjoy a small preview of the tunes and artists you will listen to during the festival, do not miss the playlists we have made especially for you.

Sign in to our official Spotify account and enjoy the real reggae vibes!

Waiting for Rototom!

For the 'Celebrating Africa' edition, the Film Fest organised by the Reggae University will include, in addition to the usual film releases about Jamaica and the world of reggae, two projections specially focused on the African continent.

On the one hand, the screenings on 13^th August of the episode of 'FONKO' on Nigeria (Sweden 2013-2014) and the incredible musical explosion of the new afrobeat sounds in the land of Fela Kuti (his son Seun Kuti will be on the Main Stage the same night).

On the other hand, on Thursday 17^th the Film Fest includes the national premiere of 'Agadez. The Music and the Rebellion' (2010, Niger). Through the story of the young guitarist Bombino, who has become a cult musician in Niger and will perform at the Lion Stage that night, the film will unveil the reality of the nomadic Tuareg of the Sahara desert. Rebels proud of their independence, who fight to protect their freedom and culture.

From Africa we will travel to Jamaica. Over there, long before ska, rocksteady, reggae and dancehall itself, there was mento. A rhythm that emerged from the fusion of African and European music, which also gave rise to a new dance style. 'Pimento and Hot Pepper -The Mento Story' (2016, JA / USA), addresses the evolution this music style has undergone since the last decades of the nineteenth century. A film that includes video clips recorded in the 50's and 60's and interviews with world-renowned experts and artists such as Toots Hibbert, who will be performing alongside the Maytals that same night on the Main Stage.

Produced and directed by the French Stéphane Delphin, 'Soul Rebels. The Untold Story of Dancehall Music', here in its world premiere will analyse through different testimonies the connections between the music of old cults of African origin, such as the Pocomania or Revival, with the dancehall style.

The Rototom Sunsplash audience will also enjoy the screening of 'Rockers' (1978, Jamaica) coinciding with the 40th anniversary of the production of this classic that has become a cult film for the genre’s lovers. Among the characters in this plot of fiction are artists such as Burning Spear, Bunny Wailer, Jacob Miller and Gregory Isaacs.

The Rototom will be also present in two films programmed at the Film Fest. Firstly, in the world premiere of the documentary 'Wake up! What would you do to change the world?' (2017, Spain), directed by Ángel Loza, winner of a Goya Award, and produced by The White Lion Films. Filmed entirely during the 2011 edition of the festival, it will be adapted for people with visual and hearing disabilities, thanks to the support of the ONCE Foundation.

And secondly, in the re-edition of the documentary 'More than Twenty - Reloaded', directed by Tommaso d'Elia and Silvia Bonanni, which focuses on the history of the Rototom.

This Sunday, 23^rd July, we celebrate Africa again together with the little ones and their families at Solé on the reggae beach, with the richness of the African tribal paintings as main theme. The second session of Units x África starts. A joint initiative of two partner festivals, Rototom Sunsplash and Formigues Festival, created with the purpose to get to know the ethnic diversity of the African continent by means of a series of characters to whom we pay tribute through dance, music, literature, art and traditions.

Image is the basis of this Sunday’s session, which we want to dedicate to the figure of the South African Pulitzer-winning photographer Kevin Carter.

The workshop will focus on facial and body painting, which is loaded with symbolism for different tribes such as the Efik from Nigeria, who uses it as a symbol of love and purity, or the Karo tribe from Ethiopia, where they paint their faces and bodies as an important part of their dance festivals and in courtship rituals. For the Gerewol tribe, facial and body painting is the celebration that gives men the opportunity to meet and attract women from their tribe.

The day will be completed with a workshop of necklaces and bracelets made with recycled materials.

Faithfull to this year’s theme, The Africas of Africa, the festival's area dedicated to debates and talks will analyse in three sessions, from 14^th to 16^th August, the cultural diversity that coexists in the continent and also what elements it has in common, such as the importance of oral tradition. Precisely, this will be the topic of the session "The importance of oral transmission in African education" that will take place on 14^th August. This session will be directed by the narrator of stories from Cameroon Boniface Ofogo, who instructs educators on the matter at the university, Safiatou Amadou (Niger), an expert in African oral literature, and Agnès Agboton, a Malian storyteller.

Sharing the title with the theme of the Social Forum 2017, The Africas of Africa, the session on 15^th August will become a journey to understand African cultural diversity. The artist Youssou N'DOUR will share his experience as former secretary of Culture of Senegal, who will be accompanied by Yohannes Tilahun, director of the Ethiopian Tourism Organization.

This new round of debates will be completed by The African culture conquers the world on 16^th August, with the South African poets Natalia Molebatsi and Thabiso Mohare.

Full Social Forum 2017 programme

Seeds are the origin. It is through them that part of the culture and history of the people remains. The seed that lies in agriculture as a source of life and progress.

The preservation of traditional seeds is the key to continue writing the future and at Rototom Sunsplash we are fully aware of it. This year we continue progressing in this respect, in our Pachamama area. Thanks to the collaboration of the organic horticulturist Quico Barranco, from the Semillas Madre Tierra project, we will be giving away to the attendees at this session more than a thousand seeds exceeding 2.000 years of age. These are two varieties of corn, red and yellow, with their origins in the Hopi lands.

Barranco has already approached the topic of the culture of the Hopi Indians at the festival, where in a previous edition, he guided the construction of the Medicine Wheel of these natives from Arizona. This year, the wisdom of these people concentrated on these seeds will travel all over the world thanks to the numerous international visitors who will attend the festival, who will be taking home this symbolic and fruitful gift.

Heavy Hammer's studio returns this year to the festival so you can get the most exclusive dubplates by the artists included in the line-up.

You can check prices, schedules and available artists by sending an email to studio@heavyhammer.it

Book your appointment!

We already have an official mixtape!

Dynamq Sounds International, which will be on the DanceHall stage of the festival next 12^th August, has put together this little musical jewel in the form of a playlist, which you can already listen to on this LINK.

A small preview of what you will see in Benicassim, with tunes from Chronixx, Luciano, Alpha Blondy, Steel Pulse, Hempress Sativa, Toots & The Maytals, The Heptones and many more.

Enjoy and get ready to dance!

Fill your wardrobe with the colors of the festival. The news store is here, filled with new things.

We have a new line of clothes for children and babies painted by hand. In addition to our usual products, we have prepared new designs of caps, T-shirts, sweatshirts and accessories.

This year we also will collaborate in especial way with Africa. Indeed, we have launched a new solidarity line of merchandising in aid of four projects in that continent.

Visit STORE, and dress Rototom all year round and if you wish, collaborate with us.

We mail all around the world!

Do you want your music played on Rototom Radio? This is an important notice to all music creators, here is an opportunity you cannot miss. Put together a 30-minute mixtape with the selection you like and send it before 31^st July to radio@rototom.com.

The 16 best mixtapes will be broadcasted on the festival’s radio station.

You have absolute freedom regarding styles, mixes ... The only requirement is not to include tunes whose lyrics may be offensive or discriminatory.

Remember you have until 31^st July to start creating.

We launch our Rototom Video Contest, with a double prize for the winner in each of our two categories: one for videos up to 5 minutes long and another one for 5 minute pieces or longer. Reaching the podium at each category will make you win an 8-day ticket for two people with camping included for the 2018 edition, which will mark our 25th anniversary.

Having fun in the middle of a concert. Having a break at our international restaurants. Organizing the trip to Benicassim. Dancing in the Sunbeach or, why not, starring in a full-length logbook in video format showing your way through the festival. What Rototom Sunsplash means to you. What memories creates in you. How you see it. How you live it. With whom you share it. Any idea, theme, approach or area can be a possible video candidate to the award in this first Rototom Video Contest.

Send us your creations to rvc@rototom.com before 10^th October.

Important notice: do it via fromsmash or wetransfer. The works submitted will become part of the festival's video library, which will have permission to make use of their contents.

Creativity is your asset. Would you dare to press REC?

We are officially the first festival in the Valencian Community to be certified for its family friendly character. Thanks to the brand Tour & Kids and which is supported by the Valencia Agency for Tourism (AVT). This development consolidates our event as a holiday destination and the activities we organise for our ‘child’ and family audience, to which we dedicate more than half of our 14 extra-musical areas, some of which boast exclusive programs, such as Magicomundo and Rototom Circus, giving shape to a festival by day with over eight hours of uninterrupted beats a day, until sunset.

This year our two most family orientated areas Magicomundo and Rototom Circus, programs will be strongly influenced by Africa and its cultures. Create, play, dream, share and offer a different perspective on education from different viewpoints, that is what is at the heart of Magicomundo, the most family orientated space, with 7 hours a day of activity in its six territories with special guests like the Ethiopian circus company Fekat Circus, one of the key participants at Rototom Circus. Each day, from 15:00 until the concerts on Main Stage begin this space will offer its circus school, its Olympics, and circus shows for audiences of all ages. Activities for families will also be on offer in other parts of the festival arena, such as Mercado ArteSano, Pachamama and African Village, and on the beaches of Benicassim and Castellon with the SunBeach and Solé Rototom Beach. To be precise, the festival’s beach bar broadens its program of cultural and sporting events to experience and enjoy with the family, thanks to Formigues Festival.

Furthermore, this year we have improved the Campsite for those who come with their family. We open a kiddy park to play and relax aswell as a closed space for changing babies.