One of the city’s funnest music festivals, City Splash Festival is now widely recognised as one of London’s biggest celebrations of reggae, dancehall and afrobeats music, and this year – its third instalment – it grew even bigger with a capacity of 20,000+ people.
Headlining the Brockwell Park-based event on the final bank holiday Monday of May was Chronixx – a legendary Jamaican reggae star whose lyrical content revolves around themes of anti-war, romantic declarations and resiliency. It was his first UK-based performance in five years and boy, he didn’t disappoint! The crowd was absolutely loving it, and he played countless hits from his debut album ‘Chronology’ – which was Grammy-nominated back in 2018.
Elsewhere I managed to catch Koffee – a real favourite of mine who I last saw play Glastonbury back in 2019 – and she rallied off the bangers like ‘Toast’ and ‘W’, as well as the legendary Max Romeo, Stylo G and Arya Starr.
And while all the music was fantastic and certainly drew in the crowds, I’d also say that the food on offer was also a major highlight. Delivered in partnership with Blk Eats LDN, there were over 60 street food-style stalls on offer here, whipping up all the Caribbean favourites like jerk chicken, vegan ital stew, Jollof rice and yummy fried plantains.
I went for my favourite, jerk chicken, and washed it down with a few pretty strong rums – which was just the ticket I needed to see off the sunny bank holiday weekend. It also gave me the Dutch courage to actually hop aboard that scary as hell looking ride…
Overall, I’d really recommend getting yourself to the next City Splash Festival on May 27 2024. It was a fantastic day with some amazing music, tasty food and, most importantly, friendly and fun vibes! But don’t just take my word for it. Here are a few more photos from the actual event this year to whet your whistle:
