Jesse Royal Headlines One Earth Reggae Festival's Fifth Annual Bethlehem Edition

Jesse Royal, the Kingston roots artist whose 2017 debut album "Lily of da Valley" went to number one on the Billboard Reggae Albums chart, is set to headline the One Earth Reggae Festival on Saturday, July 11, 2026, as the event marks five consecutive years at the ArtsQuest Campus at SteelStacks in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

ArtsQuest, presenting the festival in partnership with Movement Moves Media, confirmed the booking on March 31. Royal, born in St. James Parish and raised in Kingston, built his reputation on roots-forward production and lyrics that speak directly to the social conditions he came up navigating. That profile, combined with a rising international touring schedule, makes him one of the more compelling bookings the festival has landed across its run.

Performances stretch across three stages: the Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks, the Highmark Blue Shield Community Stage on the Air Products Town Square, and the Williams Brew Stage. The day runs from noon to 1:30 a.m., which means a full 13-plus hours of music if you pace yourself. The festival is all-ages and family-friendly, with food and craft vendors operating throughout the grounds.

"For its 5th consecutive year, One Earth Reggae Festival will bring the joyful rhythms of reggae back to the ArtsQuest Campus at SteelStacks," said Patrick Brogan, ArtsQuest Chief Programming Officer, who has also described the event as one that "brings cultures together all while uplifting the community."

This year's festival poster was designed by Adam Viola of Space Kamp, a genre-bending duo that fuses alternative hip-hop, reggae and psychedelic sounds into what the project calls "Rebel Hippies music." Viola drew on the bold graphic energy of Keith Haring's work for the design; Space Kamp will also perform on the bill, making Viola one of the few people at SteelStacks that day who both drew the poster and played the stage.

One Earth launched as a free, single-day event at SteelStacks, billed as a celebration blending Cali reggae, classic reggae, hip-hop and funk. Five editions in, it now books artists with international profiles and runs past midnight. Getting there close to noon gives you the full arc of regional and local acts before Royal closes out the Levitt Pavilion later that night. Tickets and vendor applications are available through ArtsQuest.