We are already finalizing the program with which the festival will once again become a meeting point to enjoy a holiday experience with children and family, the big festival that also thinks ‘small’.
If the arguments for enjoying festivals without age limit already had weight in the city of reggae that the Rototom Sunsplash builds in the concert venue of Benicàssim, this summer the macro musical event strengthens its family profile with important novelties in its cultural areas for children and adolescents. Magicomundo promises musical surprises up to the standards of its already emblematic areas for play and learning corners as well as its new climbing wall; the Teen Yard which is reformulated to connect even more with the teenage audience; and the Artisan Market with a wide range of workshops to merge fun and creativity in teams are but some examples of those lively spaces that will breath life into the early afternoon each day until the start of the Main Stage concerts.
More than four hours of activity per day that has at its epicenter Magicomundo, which repeats its location in the shade of the pines, keeping the younger ones cool, where it will offer a programme that will pivot once more on free play, workshops, talks and circus and music shows. Directly linked to the circus and music are two of the headliners that will surely add to the family festival experience “and that come surrounded by many other very cool proposals,” according toFormiguer Productions, which manages the area.
Thus, Magicomundo will receive the message of Zoo, one of the most acclaimed Spanish bands on the current scene -which will perform on the Main Stage on Monday, August 21- through ‘Zoo Il-Lustrat‘, a pedagogical, literary, artistic and intergenerational project that revolves around the Valencian group. Aimed at audiences from 6 to 12 years old, ‘Zoo Il-lustrat’ adapts five of the band’s songs addressing topics such as mental health and origins.
Talking about circus, ‘Rojo’, the first solo work of the renowned and award-winning actress, dancer and clown Mireia Miracle, bursts onto the scene. A journey that incorporates the audience as a direct protagonist and that opts for a universal language without words, because ‘Rojo’ wants to reach all types of audiences regardless of their nationality, culture, age, gender or social situation. The clown show will share Magicomiundo’s Bambinola stage with other artistic proposals such as ‘On, com, aigua?’, by the company La Tolithe fusion of circus and theater of CirQuack with the show ‘El valor de una moneda’ (The Value of a Coin), and Javi Javichy, The Rink Jugglerwith ‘Veló como el rayo’.
Storytelling, clay workshops, seed identification or make-up workshops will be part of the Magicomundo agenda, which will also receive artistic proposals with environmental awareness, such as ‘Romalda’, with Ciutat Feliça conceptual work starring a giant 22-meter long whale that not only aims to raise awareness but also to go a step further and invite the public to take action, to walk together towards the fulfillment of the Sustainable Development Goals and towards a real social transformation.
Doing its part, the Teen Yard, the space for teenagers, with activities and proposals closer to urban culture, “a transforming social element that has served to create community and develop creative communication channels and that allows us to connect with the interests of our younger audience”, will take on greater prominence. The area, which will open every day at 4 p.m., takes off with highlights such as the expansion of the skate structures to shape the emblematic Skate Park together with Urbns.co, and a new parkour area created by the Valencian collective R-evolution School, where different parkour athletes from the Madrid-based collective Madd will be invited daily, such as the 2019 world champion in this discipline, Alberto Gómez, and Aaron Vivar, 2022 champion of Spain.
Hip hop, rap and urban poetry workshops will share the program with urban dance and break dance -with the collaboration of the Spanish breaking champion in the junior category, Óliver Fernando- or sessions to work on issues such as racism and gender perspectives. Teen Yard will also host a daily space of creation, open to all groups present at Rototom, so they can present all their artistic interests, and exhibitions of parkour, open mic, rap, skate and much more from 19.30 hours.
Another of the festival’s epicenters for fun and team learning is the Artisan Marketwhich has designed a wide range of workshops with the peace of ‘United for peace’ at the center. There are also novelties in this space, with new additions such as pottery, wood sculpture, making robots with recycled materials, textiles with botanical dyes or T-shirt illustration, along with workshops for making handcrafted games, including the African game Awalé -considered the first board game in history- in large format.
The family profile of the Rototom Sunsplash is reinforced by the fact that it is an affordable experience -with free admission for children under 13 years old- and by the idiosyncrasy of the concert venue where this reggae city is located: an accessible, safe space designed for the public, with areas without crowds and an extensive green camping area with plots reserved for families.
