Burning Spear is the first headliner for the new Reggae Roots Rotterdam

Zuiderpark, the site of so much Rotterdam music history, will host a major new festival next summer: Reggae Roots Rotterdam. The ambitions of the makers, known from CuliNESSE among others, are big. If it is up to Reggae Roots, the festival, which can accommodate ten thousand visitors in the park, will immediately grow into an annual festival summer tradition. Legend Burning Spear is the first announcement for July 4, 2026. The line-up will be announced bit by bit in the coming weeks. The ticketsale has started via this website.

"Reggae naturally belongs to Rotterdam like no other music genre," says festival producer Brendo Festen. "So many stars have played here over the years, up to Bob Marley. This year, after the recent disappearance of festivals like Reggae Rotterdam and Reggae Woods, there suddenly seemed to be a gap. But letting reggae disappear from Rotterdam: we don't want to let that happen. This music has such a rich tradition here, we are happy to continue it. We are going to do that in the way the tens of thousands of visitors to our annual events are already used to from us. We are going to put on a wonderful festival production, which includes a lot of attention to the line-up and to the visitor."

Reggae Roots Rotterdam will be big and, spread across four stages, will bring a day of international music and culture to Rotterdam. Major international reggae artists will perform on the Main Stage and the Roots Stage on 4 July. The stages Live Stage and Reggae Island will feature a mix of reggae-related genres such as Afro Dancehall and a Soundsystem area with international dub artists. Jam sessions will be held scattered around the venue.

Besides the musical programming, Reggae Roots dishes out a diverse range of cultural activities to visitors. There is a festival market, a theatre and plenty of food and drink on offer. "The culinary offer goes so much further than chips. At a reggae festival, soul food belongs, of course." The entire site programme has Rotterdam Roots, so the festival is firmly connected to the city.

Reggae Roots is produced by Rotterdam-based agency Vivre Productions. Besides CuliNESSE, this agency organises plenty of festivals every year, including the Rotterdam Chinese New Year celebrations, which are attended by thousands of interested parties every year. Vivre Productions joined forces with creative producer Rita Omolo for Reggae Roots.

Burning Spear

Burning Spear is one of the greatest and most respected active reggae artists. A true roots legend with an impressive number of records to his name, true to the spiritual and social themes of roots reggae and with a deep, almost hypnotic voice.

Organiser Brendo Festen: "We are extremely proud that we managed to bring Burning Spear to Reggae Roots. The beginning of a wonderful line-up in which we bring together international artists and local greats as well as up-and-coming talent."