Boomtown Festival has released its highly anticipated line-up this morning, complete with set times. The big reveal comes around a week earlier than in recent years, with organisers continuing to keep the line-up under wraps until just before the festival – which gets underway exactly two weeks today.
Artists on the bill for Friday include Ezra Collective, Sleaford Mods, Caravan Palace, Dub Pistols and a special Bob Vylan X Grove set. Saturday’s line-up includes Greentea Peng, Gentlemans Dub Club, Soft Play and Flogging Molly.
Sunday will see Dutty Moonshine Big Band open the Grand Central stage at 1pm. Damian Marley, Fat Freddy’s Drop, Henge and a Pendulum DJ set also feature on Sunday’s line-up, along with the traditional 3pm Beans on Toast appearance at Engine House.
The line-up and set times is currently exclusively available through the new Boomtown app, which also features a full map of this year’s festival. As it stands, it’s only the “main stages line-up” that’s been published, with over 450 artists over 14 or 15 different stages. Boomtown hosts countless smaller stages and venues for which the line-up isn’t yet available.
Ten line-up posters have also been shared today. Click on any of the posters below to expand.
Tickets sold out in both 2022 and 2023 and at the time of today’s line-up annoucement, only around 1000 tickets are left on sale. They’re available exclusively via the official Boomtown website and partner Kaboodle.
Acts such as Caravan Palace, Fat Freddy’s Drop and Damian Marley, were widely expected following rumours on the Boomtown subreddit and Boomtown Chat Facebook group.
This year’s stacked line up is poised to continue the festival’s incommensurable legacy blending together music, culture, entertainment and activism through the largest interactive theatre experience in the world. In-depth storytelling, modern circus acts, art and dance, all come together around a mind-blowing production and set-design at the festival.
Winning UK Festival Awards ‘Best Festival Production’ in both 2022 and 2023, and heralded as ‘Transport Impact Innovators’ in 2023, as well as being picked as Major Events Summit’s ‘Best Non-Sporting Event’ in 2023, and named as BBC Radio 1’s ‘Best Dance Festival UK & Europe’ in 2023 – Boomtown, which celebrated its 15th edition in 2023, is on a mission to inspire millions to transform the world for the better. Boomtown always promises an eye-opening show, whilst underlying future-forward values committed to the planet and its people. It is like nowhere else on earth.
An ever-evolving entity, Boomtown is a vibrant parallel universe, bustling with eight distinct city districts that play host to 12 main stages, over 50 hidden venues and thousands of performers from musical acts and on-the-ground actors. The musical programme at Boomtown is a diverse wonderland featuring talent from the worlds of hip-hop, post-punk, world music, reggae, folk, drum and bass, techno, house, rock, jungle, disco, psytrance and beyond.
Legendary hip hop luminaries The Pharcyde will touch down at Boomtown alongside four-time Grammy Award-winner Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley and homegrown Jazz-fusion talent Ezra Collective. Elsewhere everyone from Stockholm’s punk leaders Viagra Boys, to online electronic sensation Marc Rebillet and the global spectacular that is Earth Wind & Fire Experience by Al McKay make their Boomtown debut. Hot off the release of their latest album ‘Heavy’, Soft Play will light up their stage while hypnotic neo-soul singer Greentea Peng and fellow-london based singer/rapper Hak Baker inject a multi-genre fused excitement to the bill.
Elsewhere, multi-hyphenate producer SBTRKT will blast groundbreaking mixes live at Boomtown this August. There’s the promise of a formidable Pendulum DJ SET and a full display by Ibibio Sound Machine, while Manchester’s Children Of Zeus bring soul/hip-hop beats to the bowl. Grime icon-turned-actor Ghetts set is sure to be a festival highlight too. Record-collector and electronic music fanatic turned viral sensation Fish 56 Octagon, Brighton-based rock trio Dream Wife, Swiss BBC Sound 2022 shortlist pick Priya Ragu and fast-rising BBC Radio 6 Music DJ Sherelle will make festival memories this year.
Fresh from their team up on new track ‘Energy Gang’, both D Double E and Sir Spryo will appear at Boomtown. In addition, four-strong DJ collective Horse Meat Disco, Ross From Friends Presents Bubble Love and dub-reggae-soul seven-piece Fat Freddy’s Drop will offer the very best in cross-genre performances. American-celtic punk gang Flogging Molly, London punk-rap duo and avant garde Bristol-based producer collaboration comes in the form of Bob Vylan x Grove, plus post-punk pair Sleaford Mods, doom-punk group Witch Fever and multi-award nominated rock/rap act Kid Bookie are amongst some of the names bringing heavy to Boomtown.
With hundreds of boundary-pushing artists playing across the 5 days, Boomtown is the ultimate transcendent festival experience. All making their home at Matterley Bowl – the likes of High Contrast, Black Sun Empire, Lava La Rue, OneDa, Killowen, Alt Blk Era, Frozemode, David Rodigan Vs Mungo’s Hi-Fi Boomtown Exhibition Clash, Folamour, Venbee, Pussyliquor, Dub Pistols, Talk Show, Doktor, Nubiyan Twist, Dirty Dike, Dubioza Kolektiv, Bhangra All Stars, 47 Soul, DJ ADHD, HENGE, Antwerp Gipsy Ska Orkestra and more are ready to join in.
And that’s just the music programming. There’s an entire world for festival goers to discover at Boomtown Chapter Three: The Revolution of Imagination. It is the perfect example of how to harness the power of imagination that lives within everyone. All those taking part in the experience are invited to embark on their own journey through expertly-designed tales of honour, treachery, and political progress. Along the way they will be encountering heroes, villains, and eccentric oddities – at one of the world’s most unique experiences. Three pillars are always at the foundation of Boomtown: Creativity, Connection and Celebration, and everyone is invited to celebrate three key overarching values: Respect yourself, respect each other and respect the planet.
Once you enter Boomtown, you’ll never leave the same.
Boomtown takes place at Matterley Bowl in Hampshire between Wednesday 7th August – Sunday 11th August 2024. Final tickets are now on sale now: www.boomtownfair.co.uk/tickets
Image credits:
Jody Hartley
Leora Bermeister
Sian Herbert
Lucas Sinclair
Paul Whiteley
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