Raggamuffin Akld move on, lineup incls UB40, Ice Cube

Ragamuffin Festival has confirmed its move to Auckland, signalled last month, after the promoter cited declining support from Rotorua locals. The event has also shifted from February, and will be held on Saturday December 13th. No venue has been announced, as yet.

NZ Herald reports that "It will be headlined by UB40 and Ice Cube, with Fiji, Etana, Gappy Ranks & P-Money, Katchafire, Aaradhna, Sammy Johnson, Brownhill, House of Shem, Chronixx and Tomorrow People all included on the bass-friendly bill."

This lineup of UB40 is headed by Ali Campbell, who has played here previously as Ali Campbell's UB40, due there being two versions of the band touring under that name. They will be playing their hits and some new material, apparently. Check their latest recording below, a cover of Prince's Purple Rain.

Promoter Andew McManus says "We've given Rotorua a good go. But we feel the event would be better served in a city with a greater population base. We're delighted to be bringing Raggamuffin to Auckland and we hope our fans will continue to support the event and that we will be encouraging new fans to come along."

There was some talk of this happening back in January prior to the latest Raggamuffin, with the event director Jackie Sanders urging Rotorua residents to support the event or lose it to Auckland, saying that locals accounted for 20 % of attendees, and she was expecting about 60% of attendees to come from Auckland.

The 8th Raggamuffin Festival will be co-presented with Dawn Raid, and a number of their artists are on the bill. There will be a 2nd lineup announcement in August.

Previous posts: Herbs vs Raggamuffin (March 26 2011), Raggamuffin rumblings (Dec 8 2010), Ali Campbell owed $ by Raggamuffin (2012), Andrew McManus says he used crew to sneak cash out of NZ (2014)