May 25-27, 2018, Monterey, CA

Written by Elisha Gud

The 9th Annual California Roots Music Festival is said to be one of California’s best music festivals. Located just blocks away from the beach in beautiful Monterey County this festival brings beach reggae vibes, hip hop, and tons of family friendly activities.

The Monterey County Fairgrounds will be stacked with two stages for attendees to mosey in-between to see a wide variety musical acts throughout this up and coming Memorial Day weekend. The lineup includes top notch performances from artists such as 311, Slightly Stoopid, Atmosphere, Xavier Rudd, Fortunate Youth, Brother Ali, The Original Wailers, Tropidelic, Tash Sultana, and many others.

The gates will be open early so attendees can find their spots and get comfortable among the fairgrounds. The Bowl stage, also known as the main stage, will house artists and musical acts starting from as early as 11:30am on Friday morning with The Movement and the Cali Roots Stage starting at 11am with Tropidelic. With camping being located outside the venue at Laguna Seca raceway and hotels near by, the festival is offering shuttle and bike/board valet for guests to get to and from the festival daily.

Friday’s lineup is packed so you can expect to see artists such as Ocean Alley, Brother Ali, Cronixx, Steel Pulse, Alpha Blondy, E-40, Iration, and Atmosphere. Mixed in with all of these  musical acts are the DJ sets which include Adam 12 (Bigga Happiness Sound), and Amp Live.

Saturday opens with The Ries Brothers and Anuhea, once again with music starting at 11am and moving through out the day. Artists include The Hip Abduction, Fortunate Youth, Trevor Hall, Stephen Marley, DISPATCH, The Holdup, Ozomatli, J-Boog, and Rebelution, with DJ sets by Yaadcore and Expanders Sound System.

As New Kingston and the DARENOTS start the final day of music on Sunday—the day will continue with more DJ sets from DJ Sugar Bear, Mike Love, Raging Fyah, The Original Wailers, Westafa, Tash Sultana, The Green, Xavier Rudd, Slightly Stoopid, Tribal Seeds, and 311 to close out the fest.

If music isn’t all you are interested in, have no fear because Cali Roots has got you covered. You can join The Movement with access to an art and wine retreat. Different art vendors will be displaying their unique talents by way of art, installations, digital permaculture, and henna. For those that want to hone in on a new skill or simply just paint, the Haven Art Sisters will be hosting daily painting workshops in the Art Retreat and you will also find wine, food, and high altitude beer from Sierra Nevada Brewing. If the art, yoga and other various activities that will be going on in the Artist Retreat doesn’t cover enough of the bases, don’t forget to stop by to see some of your favorite artists hit the pop-up stage for some some drop in performances by artists throughout the weekend.

With unique craft and food vendors, arts, yoga, an after dark lounge, and late night shows at Planet Gemini, there is sure to be something for everyone.

Tickets are still available for sale online for a short time, so take care of your pass before you head towards the gate!  You can buy single day tickets if you can only make it for one day.  Take a look at the options and celebrate your Memorial Day weekend with great music and good times – https://californiarootsfestival.com/tickets