Where the Tolminska river meets the Soča river, just outside the town of Tolmin, is a lovely stone beach called Sotočje. This is the location of four major music festivals of differing genres; dance, metal, punk rock and raggae. They take place across July and August at the same site. We bought a day ticket for Overjam International Raggae festival which also allowed us to camp overnight for free.
The Festival
Overjam brings together lovers of raggae music from around the world with it’s three colour themed stages dotted around the site and festival shops selling typical raggae swag, numerous bars and really good fresh food stalls. There was also a workshop area near the beach where you could do some free henna, improve your hula hooping skills, get a relaxing massage or get your hair braided. I decided to get a dreadlock from the ‘dreadzone’ where they were also doing colourful hair wraps. The guys running the stall gave us some Senegalese coffee which was the most intense flavoured coffee I have ever tried, it is spiced with Guinea pepper and cloves. Yum!
The Food
The catering stalls at Overjam were made up of the typical festival grub, there were stands selling burgers, pizzas, curry and of course, french fries. There was a 100% vegan food stall called Veni Vegi Vici which sold the most delicious food. The seitan kebab was so tasty and just what I needed after a few beers in the sun. The seitan was marinated in a BBQ sauce and was stuffed into a warm flatbread with vegan garlic mayonnaise, tomato sauce, shredded cabbage and salad. They also sold tofu burgers, homemade soups and vegetable wraps. I did not want my kebab to end, it was the nicest festival food I’ve ever had! The pizza stand was also amazing selling wood-fired pizzas to order.
The Music
As the green stage was down by the beach, chilled out raggae music was boomed out whilst people relaxed by the river during the day. The main yellow stage started up at 6pm where a smaller crowd were entertained by Huntin’ Sound, Fyah T and Trixstar with the Next Generation Family. Warming up for the headliner was Skarra Mucci, then Ky-Mani Marley followed by closing the main stage. Ky-Mani played some of his own hits (my favourite being ‘Hustler’) and pleased the crowd with some of Bob’s classic songs like ‘Redemption Song’, ‘Could You Be Loved’ and ‘One Love’ . It was such a positive show with a totally laid back and happy atmosphere. The festival was so fun and we had an awesome day and night. A mixture of hanging out by the beach with some beers and then dancing the night away to some good raggae tunes. I am definitely getting a full festival ticket for 2018.
Living The Veggie Life 