After keeping the line-up under wraps throughout the build-up to the festival, Boomtown organisers revealed the full line-up at 5pm on Sunday. Unlike in previous years, they’ve kept the line-up secret to encourage people to come for the festival itself rather than specific big-name acts.
Friday’s line-up on the Grand Central stage includes two 2022 Mercury Prize nominees; Kojey Radical and Nova Twins. Previous Mercury Prize nominee Kae Tempest will take to the stage later on Friday, before Saturday’s line-up features another 2022 nominee Self Esteem. Grand Central closes on Sunday with sets from Kool & The Gang followed by Four Tet – before the official closing ceremony just before midnight.
The opening and closing ceremonies will take place simultaneously across Grand Central and Origin. And right after Friday’s opening ceremony, Origin will kick off with hour-long sets from David Rodigan and Shy Fx Ft. Stamina MC. Saturday’s Origin line-up includes Noisia Ft. 2SHY MC along with A.M.C & Phantom and Kyrist.
Over at Engine House, you can look forward to Dutty Moonshine Big Band followed by Slamboree on Friday night. Saturday’s line-up includes Electric Swing Circus and Henge and Sunday’s features Oh My God! It’s The Church and Dub Pistols. Plus, Engine House will host Beans on Toast‘s traditional Sunday afternoon set at its usual time of 3pm.
The full line-up, featuring hundreds of artists over dozens of stages, can now be viewed in the official Woov app for Boomtown. The app also features the official map, announcements and chat with other attendees and can be downloaded here for iPhone and here for Android.
Alternatively, you can scroll through a list of main stage artists on the Boomtown website – but you’ll still need the Woov app to find out where and when they’ll be playing.
UPDATE: The Met Office has issued an amber weather warning for extreme heat at Boomtown
Despite being well received by the majority, Boomtown organisers responded to a small number of people unhappy with the line-up on Monday morning. They said: “For those people who were expecting bigger headline artists, we really need to say this; when we relaunched chapter one and the new version of Boomtown 2 years ago, we made it very clear that we did not want to dedicate such a large portion of the budget to three acts that sit on top of a poster. Instead, we wanted to spread it across all areas that make boomtown unique, that was always our ethos, and we wanted to return to that.
“When we announced this change we offered full refunds to people or a % of the ticket money back to support the change, 40,000 of you received a partial refund due to this shift in our offering.
“Since that time, we have experienced challenge after challenge with significant increases in general costs, something which has massively affected all festivals. A show as complex as Boomtown takes a full six weeks to build, plus a 50-strong team at HQ who work towards the event all year round – we are a city like no other after all. The pressure is almost unmanageable but this incredible team are working round the clock to get things ready for you.”
“Going forward we are clear on who we are, and where we are planning to go in the future. We put on one of the most ambitious parties on earth, but retain our raw unbounded creativity and space of freedom as best as we can.
“In three days we welcome you to dance with us once again.”
James Cousins, Boomtown’s Head of Music Programming, told Mixmag: “We have always approached Boomtown in the same way a patchwork quilt is woven, featuring the scene’s freshest acts with a sprinkle of legends on top.
“We feel we have delivered a really diverse line-up traversing the many styles that make Boomtown unique. Throughout our musical offering, we want to shine a light on all the acts, but some ‘not to miss’ acts would include: Fabio & Grooverider and the Outlook Orchestra, De La Soul, Squarepusher, Nastia, Mall Grab b2b My Nu Leng.”
Boomtown’s long-awaited return begins this Wednesday when for the first time ever, organisers will use “every last inch” of the bowl to build their theatrical city, complete with immersive venues and huge stages. In previous years, the bowl has always contained some camping along with unused space hidden behind the main stages and between the city streets. This means while the main area of the festival will be much more compact, there’s still absolutely loads to see and you won’t have any massive uphill treks between the different main stages.
A weather update revealed on Friday last week suggests peak daytime temperatures at Boomtown Fair could begin at 33-34°C on Wednesday before rising to a scorching 38°C by Sunday. There’s still plenty of time for the forecast to change and it’s still thought to be unlikely we’ll reach the high 30s, but it’s still certain to be hot, so come prepared and stay hydrated.
Earlier this month, Boomtown organisers revealed the first official map for 2022, ahead of the festival’s long-awaited return next month, giving us our first look at the new layout. Illustrated by @clraws, the map shows how a mix of spectacular new districts and old favourites will be arranged in the area formerly known as the ‘Downtown Bowl’.
Image credits:
Scott Salt
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