The risk of fire is real. Rototom Sunsplash is calling for extreme caution from those arriving in Benicasim starting Sunday, August 16, a plea for shared responsibility that the festival summarizes with a simple idea—August in the region means heat, wind, and dry vegetation, conditions where a single cigarette butt or a spark is enough to start a fire—and which translates into a handful of easy-to-follow rules so the party can continue without any scares.
The core rule governing everything else is the prohibition of fire within the venue: no bonfires, barbecues, camping stoves, or candles, with the sole exception of certified kitchens installed inside a motorhome or camper van, which may only be used inside the vehicle and never outside. To ensure this ban does not become a practical issue for those spending the week in the camping area, the campsite features collective kitchens equipped with electric hobs, ready to use and without any kind of flame, so that anyone wishing to cook simply needs to plug in.
There is a special emphasis on cigarette butts, which must not end up on the ground or thrown out of car windows, but must be completely extinguished and disposed of properly, using an argument as domestic as it is effective: a pocket ashtray costs two dollars and prevents a fire. Along the same lines, any form of pyrotechnics—including firecrackers, flares, and smoke canisters—is ruled out, and the festival explains this in a reggae key, reminding everyone that here fyah is requested with hands and not with lighters, and that the sound system already brings enough fire on its own.
Parking deserves its own chapter, as it is on dirt and in August there is always accumulated dry grass: the instruction is to park only in designated areas and follow the festival staff’s instructions at all times, since a hot exhaust pipe sitting over that grass can be enough to ignite it. Added to this set of preventive measures is an active request to the public to notify staff or security immediately and without a second thought at any strange sign—smoke, a flame, or someone lighting what they shouldn’t—because in fire prevention, the minute gained by reporting early is exactly what separates a scare from a serious problem.
These are simple rules, designed for a week that kicks off with the Welcome Party on Sunday, August 16, and runs from the 17th to the 22nd, which the festival summarizes in one final thought: that the only things left from these days are memories, encounters, concerts, and laughter, and nothing else.
