3-day Dry Diggings Festival comes to Auburn; Ky-Mani Marley, Dirty Heads, Slightly Stoopid headline

For three days in August, Auburn will be home to some of the biggest names in reggae and hip-hop as the Gold Country Fairgrounds hosts the Dry Diggings Festival for the first time from Aug. 25-27. The reggae festival has had many homes in Northern California over the years, starting in El Dorado County before moving to the Nevada County Fairgrounds for the past two years. As the festival looks for a permanent home, Gold Country Fairgrounds officials threw their hats into the ring in hopes of keeping the annual event in Auburn. "Dry Diggings reached out to us they were searching for a new home for the festival. We thought it'd be a great opportunity to bring some new events to our fairgrounds and bring some new people to the region," said Gold Country Fairgrounds Events Administrator Eryn Sasaki. "We'd love to host them annually and we're hoping it works out for both parties involved." This year's festival includes some of the top artists in the genre, including Ky-Mani Marley, Dirty Heads, Soja, and Slightly Stoopid. Friday's lineup will be headlined by Marley, son of Bob Marley, and will include Protoje, Don Carlos, Groundation, Jesse Royal, Mighty Mystic, E.N. Young and Pacific Vibration. Dirty Heads tops Saturday's lineup along with Soja, Fortunate Youth, Artikal Sound System, Shwayze, Boostive, Sa-Roc, Aaron Wolf, Kyle Smith and Aaron Borowitz. Slightly Stoopid tops Sunday's bill along with Pepper, Arise Roots, Long Beach Dub Allstars, Marlon Asher, Top Shelf, Wide Eyed Kids and Pacific Dub. Sasaki says the overwhelming response has been positive, as it seems Auburn residents and reggae fans alike are welcoming Dry Diggings with open arms. "People are excited that it's an Auburn. It's a little bit more central to people coming from Sacramento but still not too far for those that enjoyed the festival in Grass Valley," Sasaki said, noting she never realized how many reggae fans were in Auburn. "It definitely surprised me. We are excited to bring a lot of out of towners here and to have this for our local community." The festival includes on-site camping, food and alcohol vendors, a beer zone, children's activities and at least 25 musical artists. Children under 12 are free when accompanied by a ticketed adult. Tickets and more information can be found at www.drydiggingsfest.com. The entire lineup can be viewed at https://www.drydiggingsfest.com/lineup_2023?utm_source=Dry+Diggings+2023+-+Artist+Ads+.