California Roots Music and Arts Festival May 23-25 2025 Monterey County Fairgrounds

Join us for the 14th Annual California Roots Music & Arts Festival on May 23-24-25, 2025 at the historic Monterey County Fair & Event Center in Monterey, CA. 

2004 Fairground Road

Monterey, CA 93940

Gates 11 AM (Fri, Sat, Sun)

Show 12 PM (Fri, Sat, Sun)

All amplified music will end by 11:00 PM each night. 

California Roots Music and Arts Festival has always been rooted in a genuine enthusiasm for an experience that stimulates all senses through a release of creativity that can be heard, felt, seen, and embodied.  For over a decade, people have traveled far and wide to engage with the magic that is Cali Roots, with a simple desire to celebrate incredible live music with people we love.

The roster of Cali Roots performers showcases everyone from top names to emergent artists in complementing genres of reggae rock, island reggae, roots reggae, folk, and conscious hip hop including Rebelution, SOJA, Dirty Heads, The Roots, Slightly Stoopid, Ben Harper,  Stick Figure, Hirie, Iration, Tash Sultana, Dispatch, Damian Marley, 311, Nas, Stephen Marley, Trevor Hall, Jurassic 5, The Expendables, Rising Appalachia, Michael Franti, Protoje, Cypress Hill, Steel Pulse, Ziggy Marley, Atmosphere, E-40, Chronixx, Anuhea, FIJI, Xiuhtezcatl, Brother Ali, J Boog, Xavier Rudd, The Skints, Anthony B, Collie Buddz… the list is extensive.

Our commitment to environmental and social movements has strengthened the foundation on which we have built Cali Roots, while enhancing fan and artist involvement.  Our dedication to incorporating sustainability onsite and into our core daily business operations reduces our impact on the environment. By aligning ourselves with other like-minded organizations, making earth-wise choices regarding the products we purchase, promoting environmental awareness to our fans, staff, and artists and continuing to set the bar higher each year in our commitment to sustainability, we as a community are making an impact.

To date we have diverted over 600,000 single use plastic cups and bottles through our Steel Pint & REVERB's Rock n' Refill Programs, sold over 50,000 multi-use steel pint cups and Nalgene bottles, offset over 17 million pounds of carbon with TripZero, and parked almost 5,000 skateboards & bikes at our free, onsite Bike & Skate Valet.  As a result of our dedication to the environment, in 2020, we became the first certified green event in the State of California!

Cali Roots has raised thousands of dollars and brought awareness, education, and a community platform to some incredible organizations including Surf Rider Foundation, the Esselen Tribe of Monterey County, HeadCount, Save Our Shores, Love Hope Strength, Last Prisoner Project, Nowell Family Foundation, Calling All Crows, REVERB and Redwood Forest Foundation. We have raised money and awareness, but also gained 9 bone marrow matches, planted almost 7,500 redwood seedlings and become a leader in our space for how to respond to, raise awareness for and take action collectively towards social and environmental change.

Cali Roots is dedicated to creating a safe, creative space for all who participate.  To reflect the values of our organization, we are committed to expand diversity, inclusion and equity within our leadership, management, and staff, while educating ourselves and our community. This means learning about the history of oppression, systematic oppression, and becoming more aware of our biases, assumptions, habits, and ignorance. It means acting upon what we learn.

Cali Roots is not just a music festival, it's a multi-layered experience, curated for music lovers who want to bring more than just stage performance memories home. We are a community of music lovers who gather once a year for a big musical family reunion.  We are proud of all the accomplishments we have made, purposefully implementing initiatives that further enhance the overall festival experience and deepen the clarity of our identity and values. As an event and a community we will continue to grow, stretching our branches while always remaining true to our California Roots.