Staff WriterMusic is its centre piece but Rototom Sunsplash means much more. The biggest reggae festival in Europe, which celebrates its twentieth edition from 17th to 24th August in Benicàssim under the motto “Love Edition”, is known for offering a wide and inspiring programme of parallel activities that differentiate it from the rest of the big summer festivals. In addition to the talks and debates of the Social Forum and the Reggae University, attendees can find throughout the day quality international cuisine, a village where African culture can be experienced, an area of relaxation and body therapies, street circus, children’s activities, an art showcase and other open-air markets, including the new fashion line Rototom Wear, international stores specializing in vinyl, crafts workshops or advice on medical cannabis.
What’s more, the festival can also be enjoyed on the beaches of Benicàssim with a representation of almost all areas within the venue and you can get comfortable at the campsite with various services and family activities. Rototom festival is the second festival with the highest attendance recorded in Spain in 2012, but one of its most singular values is the great programme and the spirit with which the intercultural audience from the five continents enjoys it, recreating an alternative experience of coexistence. Damian Marley and Rigoberta Menchú will shine on the Main Stage and the Social Forum respectively and, meanwhile, there will be many interesting things to do without leaving the festival site:
African Village
The African village is part of Rototom’s soul: a tribute to the ancestral culture from which reggae came from. The African Village will offer workshops in singing, drumming, dance and evening entertainment with live music and dancing. Meanwhile, The KerCasa Africa Valencia centre will give African cuisine, Ndombolo dance and African fabrics workshops. In the evening, they will also be in charge of the African Disco.
Living Energy
A space with green areas and shade, organic food and natural juices with sacred geometry structures, domes, Indian canopies and a chill out area. A place to recharge your batteries in a conscious and healthy way, by means of body dynamics, therapies, workshops (agriculture, architecture), yoga, dance, music therapy, voice exercises, mantras and Tibetan bowls, conferences about natural medicine…or simply have a rest.
Rototomcircus
An open area where you can enjoy, learn and practice different circus skills such as juggling, clowning or slack-line, a colourful space for all ages with street circus facilitating communication. It will be energized by Organic Roots, Abracadabrant Teatre and Associació de Malabaristes de Badalona. Clowns Without Borders will be present this year, celebrating its 20th anniversary, like the Rototom.
Magicomundo
It is the place of the festival where more attention is given to families, providing places to play, imagine, create and share through different games and both educational and artistic workshops. The little ones can play making creative objects by the hand of Locurarte, play traditional games from around the world or learn to build with mud and straw with the help of the Okambuva collective. There will also be street theater performances and a talk about new paradigms of the education system at the Social Forum.
Cuisine
Rototom offers an extensive variety of cuisine to travel where the flavours take you: Brazil, Tibet, Russia, Mexico, Thailand, Italy, Argentina, Israel, France, Morocco, Ethiopia, Cuba , India, Senegal, Jamaica, or the cuisine of Valencia, Catalonia, Andalusia, the Basque Country and Galicia. Truly international cuisine with delicacies for every palate, including the most selective and curious: couscous, tajine, falafel, Poulet Yassa, Neapolitan pizza, piadina, samosas, choripán, acarajè, feijoada … Delicacies that can be accompanied by drinks like mint tea, sugar cane juice, bissab, ginger, api … All fresh and cooked to order.
ArteSano Market, Rototom Wear, vinyl and much more
Rototom has different open-air market areas offering a variety of items, most of them well-singular. More than 100 stalls with clothes, accessories and books, together with five international shops specializing in vinyl of Jamaican music (from France, Japan and New York), as well as the stall of Rototom Wear, the new fashion line launched by the festival under fair trade standards. The ArteSano Market will include open to the public workshops with the participation of glass blowers, olive wood carvers, perfumers or manufacturers of wooden toys. The Cañamería returns this year offering information on the therapeutic use of cannabis, free legal advice, prevention and even stands with creams, soaps, ice cream and brownies.
Art Symposium
The Art Symposium of the Rototom, designed to promote new artists, will be held on 17th, 18th and 19th of August at the festival venue. Following the motto of this 20th anniversary of the Rototom, Love Edition the theme will be love in all its representations, as always freestyle. After the artists intervention, the works will remain on display to the public throughout the festival.
Sunbeach and Harmony Beach
Rototom offers again this year on the beaches of Benicàssim a free showcase of the different musical areas of the festival. From 17th to 22nd at the Heliopolis beach, from 19th to 20th at the Tower beach and from 23rd to 24th August at the Almadrava beach, the Sunbeach programme will include DJ sessions of different styles, as well as Jamaican and African dance courses, to cool off during the day on the sand by the sea. This will be completed with the programme of the Harmony Beach, an extension of the Living Energy area at the Torreon beach.
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