Benicasim | Monday, August 17, 2026. This Tuesday, August 18, Rototom Sunsplash faces the second festival day of its 31st edition, reaffirming the nature that sets it apart on the international stage: being much more than a musical event. True to its vision of weaving a cultural and transformative experience, the festival unfolds an intense agenda in Benicasim where major names from the sound scene coexist with social reflection, practical ecology, and activities for all ages.
A philosophy advanced by Simone Firmani, coordinator of the Rototom Social Forum, organized by the Exodus Foundation: “We have built a cultural and social experience beyond music. Every space at the festival has its own identity and purpose.”
On the stages, Tuesday will bring one of this edition’s great moments with Major Lazer Soundsystem, who will burst onto the Sun Stage at one in the morning with the transversal energy of electronic dancehall that underpins this American project with mainstream appeal.. This genre, dancehall, will be championed from the stage of the same name by Jamaican Charlie Black, bringing a new dose of energy to this second festival day.
Before that, the night will have journeyed through the performance of Queen Omega, one of reggae’s most powerful female voices, who will open the Sun Stage line-up alongside The Royal Souls (9:05 PM), symbolizing that direct connection to the history and sound identity of Jamaican music. At 10:50 PM, it will be the turn of French artist Biga*Ranx, a pioneer of vapor-dub, a fusion of dub, reggae, and lo-fi electronic textures.
France will also have a double representation on the Lion Stage with THK and Twan Tee, bringing, from their respective perspectives, the coexistence of reggae, dub, hip hop, and contemporary urban sounds. This stage, the festival’s most ‘lion-hearted’, will add a local accent with Castellón’s own Boqueronians.
In addition to the musical program, one of this edition’s novelties is the Reggae Jamroom, a space designed for live reggae improvisation that will extend its activity into the early morning sessions.
Beyond the stages, the cultural journey will extend to the Reggae University, which will host Ivorian Alpha Blondy, Sun Stage headliner on the first festival day, at 5:30 PM for a face-to-face discussion titled ‘The Cocody Rasta’. This is an opportunity to delve into the trajectory, identity, and cultural context of one of the great African voices linked to the history of reggae.
The cultural offering will also reach the Magicomundo area, to immerse visitors in the history of ska to reggae narrated by Josele Ska (7:15 PM); while performing arts will take over Rototom Circus at 9:45 PM with the show ‘Ave de Fuego’, by the Baraka Circ company.
In the Social Forum, organized by the Exodus Foundation, music will give way to one of the great social challenges of the present: access to dignified housing. At 6:00 PM, ‘The place to live: Housing as a right’ will bring together María Prado, head of Greenpeace’s housing campaign; Isabel Vergara, communications director of Oxfam Intermón; and Elga Molina, Director General of Housing for the Government of Navarre. Journalist, writer, and activist Moha Gerehou will moderate a conversation that will address the causes of the housing crisis, the responsibilities of administrations, market dynamics, and alternatives proposed by civil society.
“The Social Forum is one of the clearest expressions of Rototom’s commitment to culture, reflection, and social transformation. Housing, and the problem of access to it, is one of the great challenges of our time,” says Firmani.
The commitment to the environment will also have a particularly visible expression in Pachamama, which at 8:00 PM will offer a tasting of local products alongside Llavors d’Ací, connecting the festival with the territory and its producers.
Green Commitment: 5 years of alliance with Tuawa and the ‘The drop that gives life to the forest’ campaign
This Monday, the environmental strategy promoted by the festival has reached one of its milestones with the presentation of the campaign ‘The drop that gives life to the forest’, launched together with Tuawa by Global Omnium, to mark five years of sustainable alliance between both entities. The collaboration has prevented the emission of approximately 300 tons of CO₂, an impact equivalent to the annual absorption of more than 13,500 trees, or a forest area close to 27 hectares of Mediterranean forest. The forecast is to close 2026 with nearly 3.2 million plastic bottles saved thanks to Tuawa’s sustainable water sources, as well as achieving an impact equivalent to more than 13,500 trees since the alliance began in 2022.
In the current edition, 54 water fountains have been installed between the camping area and the venue, serving the more than 25,000 people who visit this cultural city daily.
This action joins other environmental measures implemented this year, including new solar batteries, with which the festival expects to avoid 7.7 million tons of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, according to estimates provided for this edition.
