Rototom Sunsplash is starting to beat again, musically speaking. The international festival announces the first lineup preview for its 31st edition, to be held in Benicàssim (Castellón) from August 17 to 22, 2026, and which will officially kick off a day earlier, on August 16, with its brand-new Welcome Party—eight uninterrupted hours of music to dive into the Rototom experience from minute one.
Major Lazer Soundsystem, Shenseea, Protoje, Queen Omega, Israel Vibration, The Skatalites, Dub Inc, Lia Kali, Biga*Ranx, Kybba, Greentea Peng and Mr Vegas are some of the names already setting the pace for an edition presented under the slogan The Place to Be, reinforcing the festival’s essence as a place to arrive at, but also a space to build collectively, where music works as a common language for the thousands of people—of different ages, cultures and backgrounds—who visit every year. As a key vertex of the event’s vast cultural polyhedron.
In 2026, Rototom will once again be that The Place to Be… Reggae: the destination where this musical style, its offshoots and its message coexist in this shared territory. This first artistic announcement confirms a programme that connects reggae’s roots with its present, with an especially open взгляд towards the contemporary scene, featuring artists who reflect reggae’s global pulse and its many—and possible—dialogues with other sounds.
Major Lazer Soundsystem will burst into this 31st edition with the cross-genre energy of the electronic dancehall that drives this mainstream project. Shenseea, one of the most influential voices in contemporary dancehall, and Protoje, a key figure in the reggae revival movement, represent the dynamism and international reach of today’s music scene in Jamaica, brought together at the top of this first announcement.
The festival brings together essential figures from the reggae universe once again, from names tied to its tradition to artists keeping its legacy alive. Israel Vibration & The Roots Radics; the founding band of Jamaican ska, The Skatalites, alongside British singer-songwriter Alpheus; Queen Omega & The Royal Souls; and Macka B & The Roots Ragga Band symbolise that direct connection to the history and sonic identity of Jamaican music.
That link to the Caribbean island’s artistic legacy will be embodied by names such as Omar Perry, who will bring to Rototom, together with French band Easy Riddim Maker, a tribute to his father, the legendary producer Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, one of dub’s pioneers and a key figure in the genre’s history. Meanwhile, Barcelona’s Pure Negga will lead, with his Rototom Cypher Experience—another of the special shows scheduled—this exclusive gathering that will bring around fifteen guest artists and musicians on stage, showcasing the vitality of a new generation that uses reggae as a space for exploration. Without leaving the Catalan scene, and reflecting that return to the genre’s roots, the festival confirms the rocksteady and early reggae band Tarraco Raggae.
The lineup also reflects the strength of contemporary reggae on the international scene, with projects that have expanded its boundaries in recent years. French band Dub Inc, a leading European name in today’s reggae, will share the spotlight with artists such as fellow Frenchman Biga*Ranx, a pioneer of vapor-dub (a fusion of dub, reggae and lo-fi electronic textures), alongside acts that export the fresh, creative vibe running through the genre in Europe today, led by British artists Greentea Peng—with her alchemy of dub, neo-soul, jazz and R&B—and Hollie Cook, as well as Bleu Soleil from the French scene.
Rototom’s musical map continues to explore currents in Jamaican music with Mr Vegas, acclaimed basshall producer Kybba, Charly Black and Bamby. Dub culture, in turn, will once again unfold its powerful sonic dimension with some of the most respected projects on the international circuit, such as Alpha Steppa, embodying that sound system tradition that has made dub one of the most influential and experimental expressions in the reggae universe.
The festival also makes room again for fusions and sonic explorations that engage with reggae from other musical territories. Notable here is the presence of Barcelona’s Lia Kali, one of the most distinctive voices in today’s urban music scene, and rapper Lady Leshurr, a leading figure in contemporary British grime.
Alongside them, other acts also based in Spain, such as Granada’s Eskorzo with their fusion of cumbia, reggae, ska and afrobeat, and the rappers Las Ninyas del Corro. This range of contemporary fusion also expands from Argentina with the poetic voice of Natalia Doco and her blend of world music with electronic and organic elements, and Ilan Amores, who will bring to the festival his hybrid approach to cumbia, punk and urban sounds, pushing the boundaries of Rototom’s musical cross-pollination.
Representing the festival’s more experimental side, Omega Nebula also emerges, with a sound that moves between dub and electronic music.
Within this first round of confirmations, and in this fusion territory, the Spanish scene will also take on a special role with high-voltage cross-genre proposals, straddling rumba, flamenco and street music, such as the one embodied by G-5, the supergroup featuring Kiko Veneno, Muchachito, El Canijo de Jerez, Diego ‘Ratón’ and Tomasito, reflecting Rototom’s long-standing commitment to sonic eclecticism: opening doors to new audiences without losing sight of the roots that define it.
With this preview, Rototom officially kicks off the countdown to more than three decades of history and feeds an essential part of a programme that, every summer, is completed—alongside the music—by performing arts, debates and talks, cinema, live art, international cuisine, dance and dozens of cultural experiences to enjoy as a family.
From August 17 to 22, 2026, in Benicàssim, Rototom: The Place to Be… Reggae.
