20 April 2018
We’re still growing! With our 25th anniversary on the horizon, we have added fifteen new names to the lineup to pay tribute to the musical influence that reggae and Caribbean sounds have had around the planet. Fifteen names led the Cuban hip hop trio Orishas, performing for first time at the festival. Their revolutionary fusion of rap and traditional rhythms of the island such as the son and rumba has fueled their international acclaim for more than two decades. After a seven year hiatus, the group returns to the stage with their own tour to celebrate their return. We’ll get to enjoy their reunion up close next August with a blazing show.
The new batch of confirmations is boosted by the British ‘future dub’ collective Zion Train, which comes with a special show to celebrate is their 30 years of experience with guests such as Dubdadda, Raiz, Nish Wadada, Paolo Baldini o Paolo Polcari. Also confirmed is the presence of the legendary sound system Jah Shaka in an edition that also has space for young Jamaican talents like Samory I and reggae and dancehall vocalist Koffee, invited by the previously announced veteran Cocoa Tea. They are followed by the Dreadlocked reggae troubadour Vanupié direct from France, and three of the greatest exponents of reggae and dancehall in Jamaica and the Diaspora: Montego Bay selector Zj Liquid, Kingston’s Coppershot Sound and Brooklyn’s veterans King Addies.
The new generation of British dub and roots will be represented by Kibir La Amlak from Bristol, together with the vocal trio Dawtas of Aya; while the best of French reggae converges with the super-group Sir Jean & The Roots Doctors.The fusion of styles that reflects the emerging band cumbia complete completes a lineup that is given its finishing touches by another group of fusion, this time of reggae-rock, Laguna Pai (Peru), as well as the singer-songwriter Saritah and Rafeelya, 2017 winner of Britains Got Reggae.