CROATIA: Europe’s pioneering hip-hop and R&B festival Fresh Island has announced its first wave of acts for 2015, with headline performances from Joey Bada$$, Danny Brown, Tinashe and Migos. Heavyweight Skepta flies the flag for UK grime, while master selectors Shortee Blitz and Statik Selektah will hold it down on the 1s and 2s. Renowned for welcoming some of the most respected international names and providing a platform for emerging artists, Fresh Island is this year set to take place from July 15 – 17. From the inaugural festival in 2012, Fresh Island now welcomes over 6,000 festival-goers from across…
Author: Festival Insights
UK: Latitude has announced the line-up for its 10th edition, set to take place from July 16 – 19 in Henham Park, Suffolk. Included in the colossal announcement are Portishead, alt-J, Jon Hopkins, SBTRKT, James Blake, Toro Y Moi, Caribou, Wild Beasts, and Sun Kil Moon, amongst many others. The full line-up can be viewed here. In addition to its music and comedy headliners and over 100 other acts, the reveal includes plans to allow swimming in the lake for the first time in the festival’s history, and hot tubs where Latitude audiences can soak up the atmosphere of the…
PORTUGAL: Barcelos’ Milhões de Festa, set to take place from July 23 – 26, has announced that Grumbling Fur, Golden Teacher, The Paradise Bangkok Molam International Band, Dreamweapon, and TREE. The five new acts will be joining previously announced artists The Bug (feat. Flowdan & Manga), Domino’s new groove-pop delight All We Are, and krautrockers The Cosmic Dead. For more information and the complete line-up, visit the festival’s official website.
SLOVENIA: The Helsinki-based Flow Festival – in association with Slovenian organisers – have announced its first overseas excursion – Flow Festival Ljubljana, from 26 – 28 June 2015. Like Helsinki’s Flow, this new festival will focus on inspiring contemporary music, urban culture, food and visual arts. The festival will be held in a unique factory setting from the late 19th century – similar to the Sulihavti Power Plant location in Helsinki – and local restaurateurs, breweries and wine producers will be responsible for the festival’s food and drink offering. The inaugural Flow Festival Ljubljana aims to not only bring world-class…
SPAIN: Global hip-hop star A$AP Rocky has been announced as a new addition to Sónar Barcelona, along with Squarepusher, Seth Troxler, Scuba, RL Grime, Mumdance & Novelist, Bomba Estereo, Tiga (live) and Double Vision, as well as the new project from Atom™ + Robin Fox, and many more. The festival has also revealed the distribution of its shows by day, and tickets for Sónar by Day and Sónar by Night are now on-sale here. Check out the Sónar by Day and Sónar by Night programme here.
CANADA: North by Northeast (NXNE) – set to take place from June 17 – 21 in Toronto – has announced the first round of its music programming for 2015. NXNE Music has confirmed performances by “Mr. Wonderful” himself, Action Bronson, indie rock supergroup The New Pornographers, rising hip-hop duo Rae Sremmurd, the sun-drenched Best Coast, Real Estate, Kanye collaborator Ty Dolla $ign, Angel Olsen, Vince Staples, Glass Animals, Blonde Redhead, Tink, Deafheaven, and Baths. Also announced are Pentagram, ex-Crystal Castles member Alice Glass, HEALTH, Iceage, Zola Jesus, fierce Vancouver punk quartet White Lung; OM, Liturgy, Ibeyi, Betty Who, A Place…
UK: Having beaten the likes of The Great Escape and Liverpool Sound City to win the coveted ‘Best Metropolitan Festival’ accolade at the UK Festival Awards, Live At Leeds has announced its return in 2015 with 200 acts across a multitude of venues. Having played host to the likes of Bastille, James Blake, Wild Beasts, Bombay Bicycle Club, Rudimental and The Vaccines over the years, last year was one of the first places to catch future superstars and BBC Sound Of poll winners Years and Years. Leading the charge amongst the first 100 bands to be announced Carl Barat &…
UK: The UK’s largest, free African music festival Africa Oye will grace Sefton Park once again this summer, and the organisers have unveiled the first three acts of a globally acclaimed line-up for the event: UK soul legend Omar, Malian stars BKO Quintet and Reunion Island’s Lindigo. Now in its 23rd year, Africa Oye attracted record crowds of around 80,000 in 2014 to the two-day, family friendly city event. Artistic Director Paul Duhaney is excited at the challenge of following 2014’s record-breaking event. “Last year was a really special Oyé, there’s no doubt about that. I’m really looking forward to…
USA: Pukkelpop and Belgian music blog Disco Naïveté are teaming up for the renowned South by Southwest showcase festival in Austin, Texas. On March 18, the four-day festival’s opening night, they are organising an official showcase night at club Red 7. Apart from several international acts including Mew, Kate Boy, Juce and Rainy Milo, the line-up also features Belgian bands BRNS and Vuurwerk. Pukkelpop organiser Chokri Mahassine commented: “Pukkelpop has been a regular at SXSW for nearly a decade in an ongoing quest to discover new bands and tap into current musical trends. Over the years, we’ve been fortunate to…
Darren Gallop is the CEO of Marcato, an innovative Canadian company that specialises in the creation and development of web-based management solutions designed to maximise efficiency in the festival & entertainment industry. Their two flagship applications, Marcato Festival & Marcato Enterprise, are now being used to manage organisations worldwide, by over 2000 users, including festivals like Coachella, Hard Fest, Osheaga, CMA Fest, Iceland Airwaves, Eurosonic Noorderslag; and events like the Country Music Association Awards, the Commonwealth Games, Pride Toronto, and many more. After a 20-year career in the festival and music industries, spent both as an organiser and as a…