Jane's Midlife Journey

101 Things to do in Bournemouth – Bournemouth Reggae Weekender

10th Aug 2026

Bournemouth Reggae Weekender is a three day festival of reggae music and Afro Caribbean culture, which takes place in Bournemouth each summer.

How to get to Bournemouth Reggae Weekender

The event takes place in Kings Park, Boscombe on the outskirts of Bournemouth. There are various vehicle access points to the park. By car, it is possible to enter from the north, west or east side.

From the north, you can access from Holdenhurst Road, which links with the A338 exit slip road.
From the west, you can access from Ashley Road. Note: This is a one way road, so you must exit via Holdenhurst Road.
From the east, you can access via Kings Park Drive, Clarence Park Road and Petersfield Road. These bring you to a car park next to the playground, but you can’t drive any further into the park.

By Bus

Buses No 22 and X3 stop at Kings Park on the western side of the park. Buses 1a/b/c and m2 stop at the Sovereign Centre. Although this is a slightly further walk (around a 10 minute walk to the park), these buses are far more frequent.

Pokesdown Station is on the main Bournemouth to London rail line. This is a 10 minute walk from the festival site. Turn left out of the station and left again and you can do most of this walk through the park.

Parking at Bournemouth Reggae Weekender

Kings Park car park is right next to the festival site. Parking costs £1.50 for 1 hour. Further details can be found here. The car park on the other side of the park is free. There is some free roadside parking inside and around the park.

Times

The festival runs over a weekend in summer. In 2026, the dates were:

Friday 25th July from 3 pm until 11 pm.
Saturday 26th July from 11 am until 11 pm.
Sunday 27th July from 11 am until 9.30 pm.

Dates for 2027 are Friday 23rd to Sunday 25th July.

Price

Tickets rise in price with proximity to the event, starting with an early bird rate of £23 for a day (£70 for the weekend). VIP, group and family options are also available.

Details

Music

A range of reggae music, with a mix of DJs and live bands. The focus seems to be very much on DJs. Last, year, Friday was all DJ sets, while Saturday and Sunday was a mix of DJs and live bands. The year’s headliners were one of my all time favourite bands, Aswad. They were extremely disappointing. Due on stage at 10 pm, they finally appeared at 10.45 and managed three songs before the 11 pm curfew. To conclude: If you want to listen to reggae music in a field, that’s great. But for me, I would prefer the emphasis to be far more heavily on live music.

Bournemouth Reggae Weekender

Food & Drink

There was around a dozen food traders on-site. Several were serving Afro-Caribbean food. In addition, there was also burgers, pizza etc. There were also a couple of bars.

Arts Culture Zone

There was a range of stalls selling Afro-Caribbean arts & crafts, clothing. There were also drumming workshops and hair artists.

Reggae Weekender for Children

Children under 18 are free. There is some provision for children, including a bouncy castle complex (which cost a rather steep £15), a Lego tent and face painting. To be honest, most children entertained themselves running around and playing football.