First Artists Announced for Wilkswood Reggae 2024
Mad Professor, Iration Steppas and Dub Princess + Hotsteppas all appearing at this year’s festival
With the first three artists announced for Wilkswood Reggae Festival 2024 and dozens more to be confirmed, it’s already looking exciting for next year’s event. We thought we’d give you a pre-Christmas taster of things to come with a couple of heavyweight live acts for the main stage and rousing soundsystem for the Jah Spirit Arena.

Mad Professor
Mad Professor makes his annual pilgrimage to the Purbeck countryside having appeared there either in his own right or providing production at several previous festivals. He’ll need no introduction to reggae devotees as one of the leading producers of dub music’s second generation and widely acknowledged to have been instrumental in transitioning dub into the digital age.
He has collaborated with reggae artists such as Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, Sly and Robbie, Pato Banton, Jah Shaka and Horace Andy, as well as artists outside the realm of traditional reggae and dub, such as Sade, Massive Attack and The Orb. Now operating from his own Ariwa Studios producing and collaborating on albums and tracks, Mad Professor’s latest release, Round 2, featured Channel One Soundsystem.
Iration Steppas
Iration Steppas was originally set up in 1990 by Mark Iration as a sound system in Leeds, where he played the latest sounds at blues dances, clubs and parties. With a posse of like-minded individuals Iration tour the country absorbing and diseminating various sounds with notable influences being Jah Shaka and King Tubby.
Always keen to spread the dub sound, the Iration Steppas have taken their unique style all over the world, from Norway to Italy, from the USA to Serbia and from Holland to Japan. If this wasn’t enough, there have been plenty of side projects: Kitachi, their trip-hop style dub band which saw them tour with Prodigy and Dreadzone amongst others; Mark’s production work for other artists like LSK (signed to Sony); and of course the continual search for new cutting-edge dub acetates with which to wow their crowds.
This is Iration Steppas second visit to Wilkswood Reggae Festival after last year’s DJ set. This year they will be appearing with their own custom-built rig in the Jah Spirit Sound System Arena.


Dub Princess + Hotsteppas
Newcomers to Wilkswood Reggae festival, Hotsteppas are a dynamic seven-piece band hailing from Bristol, having quickly gained momentum through working with the likes of Errol Dunkley, Ashanti Selah, Donovan Kingjay, Blackout JA, and more. They will be appearing with the visionary singer-songwriter Dub Princess. Together they have sparked a new flavour to an already established band in the Bristol scene.
Over the past few years, Dub Princess has been writing new melodies & lyrics to Hotsteppas instrumentation and adding her original fire to the live set, resulting in an eclectic sound that has taken the Bristol music scene by storm.