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Bournemouth Reggae Weekender is a three day festival which takes place in Bournemouth each summer. It describes itself as a “unique occasion to celebrate the diverse African-Caribbean culture and heritage in Bournemouth through Reggae music with a full range of entertainment and traditional activities that supports creative arts and performing artists through music, poetry, storytelling, and dance workshops.“

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.
• Although it is technically possible to access from the south via Gloucester Road, there is usually a barrier here.

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. This may be a slightly further walk (around a 10 minute walk to the park) but these buses are far more frequent.

Pokesdown Station is a 10 minute walk from the park. This is on the main Bournemouth to London rail line.

Parking at Bournemouth Reggae Weekender

There is some free roadside parking inside the park and several car parks. The main Kings Park car park, which runs between the football and athletics stadiums, costs £1.40 for 1 hour. Further details can be found here. The other car parks are free. If you head for Gloucester Road, there is some free roadside parking.

Times

The festival runs over a weekend in summer. In 2025, 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.

Details for 2026 are TBA.

Price

Tickets rise in price with proximity to the event, starting with a very reasonable early bird rate of £22.75 per day (£28.29 for the weekend) to a rather hefty price of £55.99 per day on the gate. 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 is very much on DJs. Friday is all DJ sets, while Saturday and Sunday are a mix of DJs and live bands. This 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.

There was also a silent disco, but I didn’t see anyone use it.

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

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 day), a Lego tent and face painting. Most children entertained themselves running around and playing football.

• Updated: July 2025

I hope you found this information useful. For more inspiration on things to do in and around Bournemouth, check out my 101 Things to do in Bournemouth here.