with The Dubprincess & The Hot Step­pas, Rag­glyf, Sting­ing Ray & Irie Ites, Omar Jat­ta, Jah Vibes Soundsys­tem & David Judah (De/UK), Jah Lion Radio /// Doors: 2:00 PM

A hid­den gem with heart and soul—that’s per­haps the best way to describe this one-day fes­ti­val in Cologne’s north­ern quar­ter. As diverse as the city itself, the pro­gramme is every bit as colour­ful, extend­ing beyond the stage to include its culi­nary offer­ings.
This year, the arc of the musi­cal jour­ney stretch­es wide: from the UK to Ghana, Chi­na, France and The Gambia—before cir­cling back to good old Ger­many. As tra­di­tion dic­tates, Jah Lion Radio are firm­ly on the bill, pro­vid­ing the essen­tial reg­gae sound­track before, after and between the live sets.
Even if the line­up doesn’t imme­di­ate­ly flash the biggest mar­quee names, it is pre­cise­ly the cura­tion that makes the pro­gramme so com­pelling. And let’s be hon­est: Dub Princess has already gone viral on YouTube with her street per­for­mances and, togeth­er with Bris­tol reg­gae out­fit The Hot Step­pas, forms a thor­ough­ly fit­ting head­lin­er.
Liu Rui—better known as Sting­ing Ray—represents an impor­tant voice with­in the Asian reg­gae scene. Backed by the French col­lec­tive Irie Ites, he deliv­ers roots reg­gae of the high­est order. For Ger­man-Gam­bian Afrobeats artist Omar Jat­ta, mean­while, the show will feel like a home game. He has already demon­strat­ed his prowess sev­er­al times at Sum­mer­jam.
Roots up! Here, it’s all about the mix.