Superstar Shaggy to headline Bay of Islands Festival, which has expanded to two days

Jamaican superstar Shaggy will headline the two-day Bay of Islands Music Festival in January.

Northland's largest outdoor music festival is back in January, with the Bay of Islands Music Festival expanded to two days and featuring a stellar line up of international and Kiwi acts.

The festival at Waitangi, which was previously on for one day and has featured headliners including UB40 with Ali, Astro and Mickey and Jimmy Cliff, will be held on January 25 and 26.

Jamaican superstar Shaggy will headline the first day, with support from reggae legends Toots and the Maytals.

Kiwi rock icons Shihad will headline the second day, with support from Blindspott.

Also lined up so far - with more acts promised - are the Black Seeds, Northland band Otium, indie folk/country music songstress Mel Parsons and the funky South American sounds of Latinaotearoa. Northland's very own ska and dancehall spinmaster DJ BIG G will also take part.

"Northland often misses out on the big international and Kiwi artists," organiser Jackie Sanders of Jacman Entertainment, said.

"We are proud to be able to present such a massive line-up in the Bay of Islands and give people another great reason to visit our beautiful part of Aotearoa".

Sanders said more acts are being lined up for the event.

Shaggy headlines the roots-orientated first day of the festival. Hailing from Kingston, Jamaica, this Grammy Award-winning ex-marine has been gracing the airwaves since his debut album Pure Pleasure gave the hit Oh Carolina in 1993. He exploded worldwide with the album Boombastic, and the title track going number 1 in charts throughout the world.

Toots (Hibbert) and the Maytals will perform at Waitangi next January for the Bay of Islands Music Festival.

Toots and the Maytals share the stage on day one. They've been hitting the charts since the 60s, including the song that dubbed the genre, Do the Reggay. They signed up to Island Records along with Bob Marley in the 70s. They've been nominated for multiple Grammys, including a win for Best Reggae Album in 2004 for True Love.

Shihad has been firing up the NZ music scene for the past 30 years. To date they have released nine studio albums (five of which went to number 1 in NZ), three EPs and countless memorable singles, sold out headline shows, and toured with musical heroes such as Motorhead, Metallica, Faith No More and AC/DC.

The festival will be at Waitangi Sports Grounds opposite the entry to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds.

Ticket pre-sales begin at 9am on September 24 to Jacman Entertainment and Eventfinda subscribers. All remaining tickets are on sale at 9am on September 25 via Eventfinda.