Rototom Sunsplash
Encyclopedia
Rototom Sunsplash is a large European reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...

 festival, it takes place every summer at Benicassim
Benicàssim
Benicàssim is a municipality embracing a beach resort located in the province of Castelló, on the Costa del Azahar in Spain. The mountain range known as Desert de les Palmes rises inland protecting the town from the north wind...

, Spain. Until 2009 the festvial took place at Osoppo
Osoppo
Osoppo is a comune in the Province of Udine in the Italian region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located about 90 km northwest of Trieste and about 25 km northwest of Udine...

, in the province of Udine
Udine
Udine is a city and comune in northeastern Italy, in the middle of Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, between the Adriatic sea and the Alps , less than 40 km from the Slovenian border. Its population was 99,439 in 2009, and that of its urban area was 175,000.- History :Udine is the historical...

, Italy. The festival imitates the traditional Jamaican Reggae Sunsplash
Reggae Sunsplash
Reggae Sunsplash is a reggae music festival first staged in 1978 in the northern part of Jamaica. In 1985 it expanded with the addition of an international touring festival...

and since 1994 calls from various European countries thousands of reggae passionated people, thanks to concerts of international musicians, often many Jamaicans.

Rototom Sunsplash is one of the largest reggae festival in Europe.

The 16th festival attracted 160,000 persons from all over Europe. People of all ages gather together in the lovely Rivellino Park in Osoppo, a stunning setting at the foot of the mountains.

For ten consecutive days, the area filled with reggae music: live acts every evening, dancehall music every night, and in the afternoons, education and entertainment go hand in hand. There are debates, meetings on reggae music and Rasta culture, films and documentaries, photo & art exhibitions, workshops on percussions, African dance, Capoeira and Didjeridoo, sessions focusing on meditation and alternative medicine. Moreover, there is a professional team that organizes creative workshops, puppet shows and juggling to entertain the large number of children who are always present at the festival.
Il Rototom Sunsplash nasce a Gaio di Spilimbergo, provincia di Pordenone, negli spazi della Discoteca Rototom che, già dal ’91, ospitava i massimi esponenti mondiali di questa musica.
1994-1997 | Disco and Rototom Summer Camp - Gaio di Spilimbergo

The first gathering of the Italian reggae scene took place: Rototom Sunsplash was born in Gaio di Spilimbergo, in the province of Pordenone, in the Rototom Disco-club, which had already been hosting the most prominent talents of the world-wide reggae music scene since 1991 (Burning Spear, Steel Pulse, Buju Banton, Black Uhuru, Inner Circle, Third World, Cultures, U-Roy, Yellowman, Itals, Meditation, Junior Reid, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Misty in Roots, Gladiators, Pablo Moses, Shaggy…).

Campeggio interno, programmazione non stop e diretta radiofonica. Nei giorni del festival, il club Rototom e il suo giardino sono trasformati in una sorta di isola autosufficiente e pacifica dove vivere per alcuni giorni, aiutati dalla musica, sensazioni ed emozioni tipicamente caraibiche. Sin dalla prima edizione, l’evento viene trasmesso in diretta radiofonica. Col passare degli anni, grazie ad una sempre crescente capacità organizzativa ed un sempre più forte interessamento del pubblico e dei media, il Rototom Sunsplash diventa una realtà talmente grande da non poter più essere contenuta nello spazio dove era nata e si era sviluppata.

1998 - 1999 | Camping Girasole, Latisana Marittima
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The freshness and cultural depth made RS one of the most important festivals in Italy:

During the summer of 1998 Rototom Sunsplash presented itself to the public with a massive structure: an entire camping site was rented - with swimming pool, restaurant, bar and bungalows – and prepared in order to recreate the setting of a reggae city, able to accommodate thousands of “inhabitants”. The new location was Latisana Marina, close to Lignano, a famous seaside resort just steps away from Venice.

The duration of the event passed from 3 to 5 days. Apart concerts, many new collateral activities were offered, such as African percussions classes, capoeira and meetings with cultural associations. Confiding in an outbreak of the Festival (which would eventually occur, as the visitors became 20 thousand, instead of the previous 8 thousand) a special " reggae train"departing from Rome and stopping in Florence, Bologna, Padova, Venice was organised, together with a 24h free coach service fromto Lignano.

Moreover, the festival held the Italian Reggae Award : the director of the Jamaican Reggae Sunsplash, Mr. Rae Barret, was especially called in, to choose which of the performing Italian bands would represent Italy for the very first time at the festival in Jamaica. An initiative of historical importance for the Italian reggae movement, that has marked the beginning of Alborosie’s musical career in Jamaica - at the time he was still the frontman for the Reggae National Ticket band.

The following edition finally earned the attention and respect of TV press representatives and confirmed that Rototom Sunsplash was one of the most interesting musical and cultural events in Italy. 1999 edition saw the first world-wide live broadcast (via streaming on the Internet): the thousands of contacts and the hundreds of emails received in those days proved that the reputation of Rototom Sunsplash had crossed the national borders and that the festival was becoming one of European significance.

2000-2009 | Rivellino Park – Osoppo (UD)
SUN08-LdA-Mainstage-005

Rototom Sunsplash became a European gathering: In these past 7 years RS distinguished itself in Europe not only for the number and level of the performing artists, but above all for some qualities that made it unique: the project, unusual and revolutionary in some ways, was to set up a holiday resort instead of a mere festival.

The event duration gradually increased from 5 to 8 days, then to 9, and at last to 10. The initiatives and concerts were more evenly distributed in order to leave more time for meetings and for social and cultural exchange for the thousands of visitors coming from many different countries; conferences and debates with sociologists, politicians, religious and intellectuals were offered a broader space; further attention was given to the daily workshops of capoeira, percussions and African dances, meditation, natural medicine and rasta philosophy, and last but not least art workshops dedicated to children.

2010 | Spain
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