08/26/2026
Being a person raised on Caribbean rooted music all of my life and as a producer of festivals and special events for the past 30+ years, Rototom Sunsplash has always been on my bucket list of festivals to attend,
Notably I have attended Cali Roots five times but never Rototom. The fact I was in Portugal a couple weeks prior to the festival, and I was given a ticket with camping, I knew this year was the perfect opportunity to make it happen.
The experience for me was so eye opening I decided to use the Society platform to praise the festival and also provide a few tips for anyone that decides to go next year or in the near future.
So... First off, the festival itself was impressive in terms of its size and scope in several areas including a vast variety of international artists playing all kinds of music including mainly reggae, ska, dancehall, jungle, hip hop, various styles of Latin music (cumbia etc.).
Approximately 15,000 - 20,000 people attend the festival each day which is situated in the beach town of Benicassim, Spain. This year they reported having 169,000 attendees over 7 days.
They have two main stages which are the Sun Stage and the Lion Stage. These stages are huge with massive sound systems that accommodate several thousand people. Then there are several other smaller stages (which are still pretty big) such as the Dancehall Stage, Dub Academy, Jamkunda Stage and other areas such as the "Reggae University" that host workshops during the day.
Artists that played at the Sun Stage included The Skatalites ft. Alpheus, Major Lazer, Luciano, Twinkle Brothers, Alpha Blondy, Dub Inc. Greentea Peng, Protoje, Queen Omega, and Bushman to name some. Notably Macka B & the Roots Ragga Band and Hollie Cook put on spirited performances at the Lion Stage.
The festival has endless bars, food concessions and visual arts.
There is an offsite beach stage with a booming sound system and world class selectors which has its own bar and restaurant a couple miles away. The festival has bus shuttles that go to this beach stage several times a day.
Overall the festival has everything you could think of to have a great time. Their prices for food and drink are reasonable and there are tons of options for people with any kind of taste or dietary restriction.
TIPS FOR THE FESTIVAL
Now that I've given a general description of what the Rototom Festival is, I thought it would be helpful to share my experience of being there for six days in a row so that for those that plan to go next year, hopefully some of these tips will help you.
CAMPING
The festival has the option to camp or "glamp" in tents that can sleep one to five or more people. When you choose the glamping option they will give you a tent that is set up with one or two air mattresses of medium to thin thickness inside the tent with a pillow and sheet. In addition to this they will give you an eye mask, earplugs, and a small padlock to lock your tent when you're out.
The tents are set up next to public outdoor showers, toilets, and sinks/mirrors to brush your teeth etc. There is also a place to wash clothes. Make sure you bring your own soap, toothpaste, towel etc. The toilets are pretty clean but they don't have toilet paper in each one. You need to get it at the main toilet paper dispensers. Also keep some extra toilet paper on you to wipe down the toilet seats with hand sanitizer and/or just in case certain dispensers are empty or haven't been filled. Usually they were but at the very beginning of the festival and towards the end of the night in a few bathrooms they had run out or were running low.
Overall if you're not a camping person, camping or even glamping isn't easy over the course of 6 days at the festival due to the heat during the day. On some of the days during the festival it was anywhere from 35 - 40 celsius during the day. Instead of staying in your tent I suggest going to the main town for lunch and then hitting the beach to swim. Note that when you go to the beach where the beach stage is, there isn't a lot of shade anywhere and what shade there is is usually taken. If you go about 4- 5 kilometres in the opposite direction along the beach away from the Rototom Festival Beach Stage, there are more palm trees and benches to sit on to avoid the hot sun.
CASH AND POWER
The festival is cashless. You are given a wristband which is required for entry and exiting the site although there are unlimited ins and outs. The wristband also allows you to purchase food and drinks. You will need to refill your wristband using your credit card throughout the festival. They have the wristband top up stations all over the site. Merchandise and tents selling clothes and other items accept major credit cards such as ( VISA and Mastercard) as well as cash. Although the festival is cashless for food, drinks and entry, it's a good idea to have cash to purchase off site items and bus transportation.
If you're looking for power to charge your phone or other devices, you'll probably need to rent a locker. I didn't see any other power sources on site to charge my phone. They have them on site and in the camping area. Just purchase the smallest locker if that's what you're using it for. They are $16 - $17 Canadian per day. I purchased the largest one which cost $160 Canadian for the week because I wanted it to be large enough to hold my backpack, laptop, and a few other items. Alternatively you can go to lunch or dinner at places in town that will allow you to charge your phone. Just make sure you have the power plug convertor.
FOOD AT ROTOTOM & IN TOWN AT BENICASSIM
I thought the food at the festival was good overall. Most meals range from around 12 - 22 euros ($20 - $35 Canadian) depending on what you get. There were some food kiosks that offered significantly better value than others. It's worthwhile to look around. The Vegan falafel wrap was really tasty. The crepes kiosk was especially delicious. They make both sweet and savoury ones for anywhere from $7 - 12 Euros,
Food in town was generally good and a bit cheaper. Again some places offer good value and others don't.
The grocery stores offered reasonable prices and the liquor there is much cheaper than it is in BC. They sell b**r, spirits, w**e and c***r at grocery stores and corner stores.
TRANSPORTATION TO AND FROM ROTOTOM SUNSPLASH AND AROUND BENICASSIM
To get to the festival they have trains and buses from Valencia or you can hire the Rototom bus shuttle which provides service to and from Valencia and Barcelona airports directly to and from the festival. It was handy for sure. Just make sure you confirm the correct place to meet the bus.They used a small 12 passenger Sprinter tall black van to do these trips.
One thing you need to remember is there are no Ubers in Benicassim. But they have buses or you can rent bikes or take taxis. I don't like using taxis when I'm not familiar with a place because you can get overcharged that way. Instead I just purchased an unlimited Rototom bus pass in cash (around $37 Canadian) which brought me into town or to the beach. From there I could go wherever I wanted.
OVERALL THOUGHTS
Overall I think that the Rototom Sunsplash is a life experience for any reggae fan. There are so many options for music, music education, food etc. There are tens of thousands of people from all around the world. Although Spanish is the first language, English is widely spoken on the festival grounds and most of the artists sing and speak in English.
If you're not a camping person I would recommend trying to get a group of two or more people to book well in advance and split in for an Air B&B near the festival grounds. Otherwise if you try to book last minute and you want your own place, you'll be looking at anywhere from $600 - $1000.00 Canadian per night for accommodation.
Book your flight early and save cash. Just fly to a major centre in Spain such as Madrid or Barcelona and then just take the bus or train. It's WAY cheaper than flying especially if you're booking sort of last minute and/or you have carry-on bags or other luggage.
Dane Roberts
Artistic/Executive Director
Victoria Ska & Reggae Society
