California Roots Music and Arts Festival

Monterey is home to the acclaimed California Roots Music & Arts Festival.  The Monterey County Fair & Event Center is a beautiful, oak tree-shaded outdoor historic venue heralded as the site of one of the first music festivals in the United States, the famous Monterey Pop Festival, and continues to be a fan favorite with its close proximity to tourist attractions, beaches and hotels.
 

The California Roots Music and Arts Festival has become synonymous with the North American reggae and roots music scene, but for years the event has also featured some of the biggest names in hip hop. The 2015 edition had the legendary Roots headline and Cypress Hill also perform that year. Minneapolis’ Atmosphere has become a staple at the festival with 2020 being their fourth year. Cali Roots has also featured Rhymesayers labelmates Brother Ali and Dilated Peoples.

After two impressive rounds of artist announcements featuring some of the biggest names in reggae, hip hop, and roots music, the California Roots Music and Arts Festival is proud to announce its third and final wave of artists.

After an impressive round one lineup including Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley, Ice Cube, Jimmy Cliff, Chronixx and more, the California Roots Music and Arts Festival is proud to announce its second wave of artists including Rebelution, Atmosphere, Sean Paul, Tribal Seeds, Collie Buddz, The Green, The Expendables, Cultura Profética, The Movement, Keznamdi, EarthKry, Artikal Sound System, The Elovaters, and Arise Roots.

The California Roots Music and Arts Festival has had much to celebrate in 2019 with a successful ten year event, launching their own radio show “Cali Roots Radio” on SiriusXM’s “The Joint,” and through a new strategic partnership with Reggae Rise Up. Cali Roots is thrilled to announce its first round of artists for their 11th annual festival held at the Monterey County Fair and Event Center from May 22-24, 2020. Pre-sale starts Monday, October 28 from 10am to 10pm PST. Public on-sale will be Tuesday, October 29 at 10am PST.

Day three of Cali Roots X was a roller coaster, bringing more excitement and stress on the powers that be than possibly any other day in the festival’s decade of success. For starters, the weather forecast for the day was inconsistent at best. Conflicting reports seemed to pop up throughout the night before and the morning of. Some news outlets reported possible light showers; some went as far as to suggest a chance of thunder. Either way, the uncertainty mounted as the day moved forward.

Day two of California Roots Music and Arts Festival 2019 was when it started to become increasingly undeniable that the festival was growing closer and closer to the level of popularity akin to a traditional mainstream festival, as opposed to its usual niche. Much of the festival’s merchandise sold out before the end of day one, a clear sign that this year’s festival grew faster than even optimistically expected.

Cali Roots Veterans Pepper has been known to call the California Roots Music & Arts Festival the “Super Bowl” of the genre, and over the last decade, it has proven time and time again that it represents the apex of what reggae can be in America. It has passed every festival that inspired it inspired it by countless lengths in virtually every way.

California grown, Island inspired, The Late Ones have been bringing their take on reggae music to the stage for quite some time. Comprised of the Avei brothers and their close friend Josh Brunson, their harmonies show through their chemistry onstage and their conscious and edgy lyrics in the studio.

No conversation about the modern resurgence of Jamaican roots reggae would be complete without mentioning the influence of Jesse Royal. A man who is nothing short of the embodiment of why Jamaicans and lions so often go hand in hand, he has let his heart lead his career and brought his message of love and unity to all corners of the world. Over the past few years, his career has taken off in spectacular fashion. Performing to crowds so far away from his home town of St. James Parish and growing his fan base with every performance. After his set at this year’s Cali Roots festival, we spoke with Jesse about a wide range of topics from his family ties, stereotypes that affect him, and his relationship with something very near and dear to our hearts, The Grateful Dead.