+ buy tickets After aptly Royalising Dalston for two days over Kate ‘n’ Wills’ wedding weekend last year, Land of Kings – the area’s annual cultural showcase – returns for a fourth reign on Friday 4th & Saturday 5th May.
Taking over 15+ venues, the festival sprawls across Kingsland High Street’s basement clubs, live music spaces and art galleries plus forgotten school halls, hidden banqueting suites and secluded gardens. Once again, punters are invited to roam the strip for two nights with wristband and map, hopping between the best of Hackney’s burgeoning creative scenes.
With club nights from the cream of the East End’s promoter outfits – Durrr, Black Atlantic, Dollop, To the Lazer Cave all weighing in – DJs include Breach, FunkinEven, Eliphino, Bullion, Gang Colours, Kutmah and Hannah Holland to name but a handful.
On Day 1, Red Bull Music Academy presents a night at the Arcola Tent based around the Miranda Sawyer and Colin O’Toole-directed Let Us Be Golden – looking at life as a breaking artist in the capital. Featuring a screening of the film and Q&A with the Directors, Eglo Live Band (ft. Fatima and Olivier Day Soul) and Rinse FM’s Alexander Nut - both involved in the film - also perform.
Delving deeper into the neighbourhood’s history as a hotbed of nightlife, Day 2 sees a multimedia programme around The Four Aces – the legendary club formerly on Dalston Lane that attracted performers such as Desmond Dekker, The Ronettes and, later, The Prodigy (who played their first gig there) and where locals would rub shoulders with punters like Jimmy Cliff, Vivienne Westwood and Bob Dylan. The programme includes the Four Aces BBQ hosted by the club’s erstwhile owner Newton Dunbar, screening of the Winstan Whitter picture Legacy in the Dust plus an exhibition of photography and artwork from the club. At night, a crew of the club’s original DJs joins Tayo, Breach and Hannah Holland for junglist revival party Wicked! Wicked!
**Early-bird tickets sold out**
Head to Land of Kings website for current line-up and tickets from just £20
Full line-up:
Friday 4th May
Music:
All the Queen’s Ravens, Alexander Nut, Bullion, Bos Angeles, Caze Nove, Clash DJ Team, Connan Mockasin, Dan Beaumont, Dollop DJs, Dreamtrak, Eglo Live Band ft. Fatima and Olivier Day Soul), Eliphino, Famy, Funkineven, Great Waves, The Invisible, Johnno & Charlotte, Kwes, Kwesachu, Lazer Cave DJs, Lovely Jonjo, Make It Stop Mum, Male Bonding, Mo Kolours, Moshi Moshi DJs, My Panda Shall Fly, Night Angles, No Pain in Pop DJs, NZCA/Lines, O Children, Ray Mang, Rory Phillips, Royalty, Slow Club, Spirit of Mantra w/Johnny Cox and Siemy Di, Toy, Trophy Wife, Virginia Wing, We Were Evergreen, ZTG
Art & Interactive: “The Austerity Games”, “Diet Coke is Illegal in the Philippines” by BestCleo, “Live Art Speed Date” by Stoke Newington International Airport, Literary Death Match ft. Isley Lynn, Nat Luurtsema, Sam Mills, Jan McGregor, Red Bull Music Academy presents “Let Us Be Golden”, Slagbox
Saturday 5th May
Music: Ben Westbeech / Breach, Bicep, Browswood DJs, Clancy, Clash DJs, Cool for Cats DJs, Esser, Factory Floor, Fever Dream, The Four Aces Allstars, Gang Colours (DJ set), Gwilym Gold (DJ set), Hall of Mirrors, Hannah Holland, Hatcham Social, The Horrors DJs, Is Tropical, Kutmah, Maria Minerva, Maurice Fulton, Naomi//, NTS DJs, Owiny Sigoma Band Soundsystem, Public Information DJs, Rough Trade DJs, Soft Rocks, Speech Debelle, Standard Planets, Stay+, Stealing Sheep, Tayo, Trevor Jackson
Art & Interactive: The Austerity Games, Dalston Darlings, “Live Art Speed Date” by Stoke Newington International Airport, Legacy in the Dust, Hackney Film Festival, Hammer & Tongue ft. Kate Tempest, London Fields Radio, The Meatwagon, Four Aces BBQ, Classic Album Sundays
