NEWS: Arrested Development, Sly & Robbie And J Boog Added To Ragamuffin 2012

Prolific Jamaican superstars of reggae and dub, Sly & Robbie, together with two-time Grammy Award winning hip-hop trailblazers Arrested Development and Hawaiian based Pacific Reggae artist J Boog will join the biggest ever line-up of artists performing at Raggamuffin’s 2012.

McManus Entertainment -- promoter of New Zealand’s premier reggae, hip-hop, dancehall, funk, dub and RnB event - also proudly announces that New Zealand favourites Katchafire and Chad Chambers will be part of this year’s festival at Rotorua’s International Stadium. Katchafire and Arrested Development will kick this two-day music festival into gear by performing the Mai FM Party on Friday night, joining Sweet & Irie and Sons of Zion. Arrested Development will be back for another set on the main stage on Saturday 28 January.

Chad Chambers, winner of Maori Television’s singing competition Homai te Pakipaki, will also appear on the main stage on Saturday. His inclusion in the world-class line-up came after thousands of fans petitioned Raggamuffin organisers via Facebook. Chad has enjoyed a cult-like following since winning his heat of Homai te Pakipaki, singing Bob Marley’s 'Natural Mystic'.
 
These stars will join an already massive billing, featuring Ali Campbell's UB40, Billy Ocean, Marvin Priest, Big Mountain, Junior Marvin, Nkulee Dube, Kora, Three Houses Down, House of Shem, Cornerstore Roots, Sons of Zion, Sweet & Irie, Tomorrow People, Soljah, NRG Rising and Foundation to celebrate Raggamuffin’s 5th anniversary. Wait, there’s more! DJs Sir-Vere, Poroufessor and Beau Zee will also be spinning their magic.

2012 will be the greatest Raggamuffin event yet, delivering festival-goers over 12 hours of great music. Two stages and twice as many artists than ever before. The 5th birthday party will begin on Friday night at 7pm with the Mai FM Party on the Second Stage, Field 2. It will be a mix of bands and DJs plus the night market. Tickets $40pp or you can include your Mai FM Party ticket with your Earlybird festival pass for $139.

VIP packages are also still available. While the Coruba Gold Lounge has sold out, there are still tickets available for the VnC Cocktails VIP Lounge. These tickets are $220* which includes a one-day Raggamuffin ticket. This is an exclusive chill-out area for 250 people located in the stadium grandstand. It has a premium view of the main stage. Spot prizes, giveaways and cocktail samples will be included in this package.

And for the first time ever, Raggamuffin and Ticketmaster will allow fans to book their tickets now and pay later. To make things a little easier on the hip-pocket, Raggamuffin promoter Andrew McManus has decided to introduce an easy-pay option. This will allow concert-goers to pay off their tickets in instalments. Fans are now able to reserve their tickets at the Earlybird price with a deposit, then pay off the balance monthly, with the final payment to be made on January 4. This option is available from www.ticketmaster.co.nz now.
 

Event Information
Raggamuffin 2012
January 27 - 28 2012 at Rotorua International Stadium
Tickets on sale now from www.ticketmaster.co.nz
Visit www.raggamuffin.co.nz for more details.