ROTOTOM SUNSPLASH – HOW TO GET THERE, SCHEDULE, ARTISTS, TICKETS

Rototom Sunsplash’s the best reggae festival in Europe. The event, for all ages, consists of eight concert days with the best international reggae groups, a wide range of cultural events, related to alternative ways of life, and a peace-and-unity environment, impossible to be breathed in any other festival.

History

Its history started in the Italian province of Pordenone, in Friuli-Venecia Julia, in 1994. That year, Gaio di Spilimbergo founded Rototom Sunsplash to reunite reggae artists, and to manage cultural activities regarding peace, tolerance, non-violence, anti-racism, environmental protection and Rastafarian world.

In 2010, their managers decided to move the festival to Benicàssim, Castelló, Valencian area, in Spain. Since then, the festival has been celebrated uninterruptedly, becoming the most important European reggae festival, being appreciated and sponsored by UNESCO as an emblematic event of the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence (ONU-UNESCO, 2001-2010) and a related activity to Culture Without Frontiers, and to the World Interdisciplinary Seminar of “The Culture of Peace and Non-Violence” (UNESCO-IPT-UCM).

Name

The festival gets its name from a famous rowing system, used for music drums, and it was also the name of the managers’ old discotheque, and the moment of the sun on the sea.

Where is it celebrated? What to visit?

This event’s celebrated in Benicàssim (Castelló, Spain), August, the 12-19th – 8-day festival! But, where is it precisely celebrated? Rototom Sunsplash’s celebrated at the festival compound, located in N-340 road, km. 986.300.

This privileged situation allows us to settle in Orange-Blossom Coast, enjoying almost seven kilometers of Mediterranean beaches, sponsored by European Union blue flags. In fact, Benicàssim coast offers the possibility of enjoying thin-sand beaches, like Voramar, Almadrava, Heliópolis or Torreón, or white-stone beaches, like Terrers.

Moreover, you can enjoy incredible mountain landscapes; this town has a north-eastern mountain range, called Cantallops, in Orpesa, with mount Bartolo, providing a panoramic Benicàssim coastal view, or Saint Michael, 729 meters high.

Besides, Palm Desert appears next to the coast, a unique natural jewel with more than 3,293 hectares, official natural area, offering abundant Chamaerops humilis, the only endemic European palm. This privileged geographical situation, between Palm Desert mountain range and La Plana in Castelló, offers endless choices if we want to enjoy its local geography, nature and history. For instance, Benicàssim has more than 204 caves and chasms, some of them with prehistoric remains, like Cantalar or Queralt Cave.

Lastly, the festival has its own SunBeach, where you can dance and have fun with its daily free activities.

How to get there

You can arrive in Benicàssim by land, from Castelló or Barcelona, across N-340, AP-7 highway, 45-46 exits. Another option comes by train, across Benicàssim station, with long or medium-distance Renfe trains. For exact train routes and timetables, the best option is to enter Renfe website. Another option comes by bus; its nearest station’s in Castelló (tel. 964240778). Anyway, you’ll be able to reach Benicàssim from every national location, hiring ALSA, Avanza or HIFE buses.

how to get there

If your option comes by plane, the best alternatives are Castelló, València, Barcelona, Reus or Madrid airports. And, if you decide to go to Rototom by ship, the best options are: Barcelona port, allowing you to go to Italy, Balearic Islands and Morocco, and València port, being able to embark towards Balearic Islands.

Those are the main options to go on your own, but Rototom Sunsplash festival allows its customers several reggae routes by bus, in order to ease the trip to the festival from different European places. Besides, the festival provides several bus routes from Madrid to Benicàssim, even with 30% discounts. Some companies, like Mediterráneo Holidays, provide routes to cover the trip from Castelló, València and Barcelona airports, to the very festival compound. You only have to get online trip tickets in advance, because they cannot be bought in the bus. If you get the tickets before May, the 31st, the ticket will have a 50% discount on initial price.

You can check these routes online, entering the official festival website.

How do I move around?

When you arrive in the festival compound, the best options to move around Benicàssim are bike riding or renting, thanks to the festival too. Besides, there’s a special route service to move around the area, and to move from the zone to the beaches. About taxis, the festival provides a taxi stop at the parking roundabout. Car’s not recommended, because, during the festival, Benicàssim’s full of vehicles, so car’s an uncomfortable, slow transport. What is more, there’s a police-control risk, which could embitter the festival, so the best options are bike, taxi and bus.

how to move

Historical background

Rototom history started in 1994, when Magic alternative discotheque decided to perform two reggae-Jamaican cultural journeys in Spilimbergo, Pordenone. The mythical discotheque was arranged for the event, adapting the outdoor garden to a free camping site for the customers. Firstly, the bands were Italian artists, but it was a success anyway, and it immediately transformed into a referential festival for reggae music-culture lovers.
The success was so big that international artists were included the following year, and its third edition was three days long. In 1998, the festival was arranged in an equipped camping site, moved to Latisana, in Udine, and some cultural activities surged.

In 1999, Rototom had become the most important European reggae festival. In 2000, it was moved to Udinesa de Osoppo, and it was nine days long. It involved international artists, seminars, cultural debates, courses and benefic stands. Year after year, the festival became more important and famous, gathering more than 150,000 people, and featuring Burning Spear, Rita Marley, Sizzla, Jimmy Cliff or Junior Kelly. In fact, it became so famous that it started to be aired, via satellite, worldwide, and many international correspondents were sent to report the event.

In 2010, because of legal problems with Italian justice, Rototom Sunsplash moved to Benicàssim, Spain. Surprisingly, a different country didn’t handicap the festival gathering power, increasing its customers to more than 235,000 people in 2011, along its ten days. Besides, the audience came from more than one hundred different countries, with 1,400 artists. The final result was a festival with more than 360 shows, facing a vibrant audience from dusk to dawn. An unforgettable experience, recorded in the retina of the thousands of fans filling Benicàssim festival area.

Schedule

Obviously, the schedule changes every year, but general patterns are maintained. The concerts always start at dusk, because the afternoon’s focused on relaxing on the beach or doing the scheduled cultural activities. During the day, it has varied debates, reggae-rasta talks, artistic exhibits, movie-documentary colloquiums, percussion-African dance courses, didjeridoo, capoeira, alternative medicine, cannabis, meditation, massage sessions, street market, etc.

The area’s full of bars and food stands, open day and night, for the visitors to taste global food. Besides, it has an ethnic artisan market with music stands, traditional costume jewelry and fashion.

Example of Schedule/timetable

Programme rototom 2017

There’s a non-profit company zone, for them to show their initiatives and to collect funds for their projects. For instance, in 2011, a big Roman circus-like carp was assembled to gather Cannabis Circus, event dedicated to hemp resources (from footwear to furniture) and marijuana resources.

Rototom Sunsplash’s full of different debates and talks. In fact, it tends to attract new associations and personalities every year. For instance, in 2013 it featured a Peace Nobel Prize, Shirin Ebadi, and a Hindi activist, Vandana Shiva. Concerning journalists, it has featured Rosa María Calaf Solé, Leticia Iglesias, Esteban Ibarra, Carlos Carnicero, Bernard Cassen, José Couso’s brothers, Willy Toledo and Leo Bassi.

All these events provide the necessary entertainment to avoid boring visitors. And the festival provides professional infant entertainment activities and games. This is an exclusive Rototom service, because many visitors come with their kids.

Other options

If a visitor’s not interested in festival scheduled activities, the best option’s the beach, local geography, reading or wandering around thousands of visitors. When dusking, relaxed and restful, the show stage starts, and music won’t stop till dawn. In fact, when main stage concerts finish, the visitors attend Ska, Dub Station and Dancehall stages; ideal places to keep partying and dancing till dawn. A totally unique experience.

Artists

Rototom artists have been so different that we aren’t going to list them, although international reggae artists have been around. Mainly, the artists are Jamaican, European and Italian, and some others worldwide. In fact, if you like reggae, you’ll surely find one of your favorite artists.

Rototom music’s one of the most wide and varied festivals around Rastafarian scene; an incomparable occasion to have fun, enjoy and be totally impregnated by reggae music and reggae culture.

Rototom ticket prices

official ticket prices rototom 2017

Where to buy tickets for the Rototom?

There are multiple options to get your Rototom Sunsplash festival ticket – on line’s fastest, easiest, cheapest; if in advance, they’ll email it to you: print it and show it with your ID at the entrance – really important because tickets are nominal, that is, your personal data are required when buying, and the ticket owner must be at the entrance.

Besides, you can get your ticket at the very festival entrance – camping tickets too; entrance box office’s open 24/7 – tickets, concerts, camping site.

You can get season tickets or single-day tickets – box-office first-day ticket’s available from 1:30 h in the morning (you can stay till the following day, at 7 in the morning); camping wristband allows you to stay in the camping site till 12 in the afternoon.

For in-advance tickets, there are many selling points/channels dealt with Rototom – Festicket, Atrápalo, El Corte Inglés.

Exemptions, discounts

Free entry for under-13 teenagers – accompanied by their parents or licensed legal tutor.

Free entry for 65-year-old retired people.

Free entry for 65% motor-impairment, mental-problem, blind, deaf people – show the certificate at the entrance; if necessary, free entry for handicapped people’s partners – non-transferable, special wristband for free stay while the handicapped person’s there too.

€5 entry for Castelló unemployed people – job-seeker updated Servef certificate and ID.

Underaged teenagers

Allowed entry when accompanied by your parents or legal tutor – if over-16, show a permit (signed by your parents) at the box office.

Camping-site tickets

Camping ticket allows you to use the baths, showers and the like – you can hire a service to setup your tent as you reach the venue (The Glamping Company website).

Camping ticket can only be bought at the box office if you have a concert ticket.

Ticket refund

Ticket refund’s only available if all the scheduled shows on that day get canceled – in-advance tickets can change their name (transferred to third parties) but they aren’t refundable: for name changing, enter the online selling system and use the name/owner changing service – €10 for in-advance tickets (otherwise, selling-change price difference).

Expulsion, ticket lifting

Rototom has the admission/lifting right – inconveniently-behaved attendants will be immediately dismissed (no refunding).

Dogs

Dogs aren’t allowed in the festival area – they aren’t allowed on Benicàssim beaches (under-8 kg dogs can enter the camping site); for animal convenience, you should leave them at home with somebody during festival days. Dog breeds considered dangerous are totally prohibited in the festival – Akita, Rottweiler, Pit Bull, Dobermann, Neapolitan Mastiff, Japanese Tosa, Argentinian Dogue, Bordeaux Dogue, Bullmastiff, Staffordshire, Canary Hunting and Brazilian Mastiff.