UB40 featuring Ali Campbell to play at Milton Keynes Bowl next year

UB40featuring Ali Campbell is to perform at The National Bowl in Milton Keynes next year.

They will appear in August as part of the Reggae Land festival which attracted 30,000 people this summer.

‘We are UB40’, along with Grammy-winning Jamaican reggae band Morgan Heritage, is the first big name to be announced.

The band features Ali Campbell, founding member and lead singer of the original UB40, who left in 2008.

Ali was later reunited with Astro and the pair took the world by storm, releasing three new albums together and reaching number 2 in the UK charts.

Sadly Astro died in November 2021 at the age of 64, shortly after they’d completed Unprecedented, their fourth album.

Now Ali will to take the Bowl by storm during Reggae Land 2024 on the Saturday. It will be a blast from the past as the original UB40 played there in July 1980.

Sunday’s main Reggae Land act will be Morgan Heritage.

An event spokesman said: “After an epic 2023 edition with 30,000 people, more than 80 artists, four stages of music, 50+ food traders and two unforgettable days, Reggae Land is already looking ahead to next year's event. It will take place again at the supersized new home of The National Bowl in Milton Keynes on August 3 and 4 2024.”

The rest of the line-up will feature reggae icons past, present and future, he said.

Tickets will be going on sale at 9am on Friday September 29here.

Reggae Land has been nominated in several different categories in the UK Festival Awards. In 2023, it grew to new heights by moving to the new venue with a bumper line up featuring chart topper Sean Paul next to Beenie Man, Shy FX, David Rodigan, Junior Marvin & The Legendary Wailers, Mad Professor, Channel One and King Tubby's Sound System.

There is a Reggae Flea market, a fairground, an Carnival Float stage, VIP zone and a mouthwatering Caribbean Food Village along with Rum Shacks, Gin Bars and Caribbean cocktail bars.

The spokesman said: “Reggae Land is the best celebration of reggae music anywhere in the UK and it always sells out so move fast!”