We Are FSTVL… Are You?

All line-up phases have now been announced for Upminster’s biggest festival!

Upminster’s award-winning dance music festival is back with a bang this May bank holiday weekend with a line-up that is sure to excite even the most frequent of festival-goers. All 5 phases of We Are FSTVL’s incredible line-up have now been announced, and the range of both national and international artists is utterly enviable, proving once and for all that this is the only place to be for fans of EDM, dance and house music.

Friday

We Are’s site opens for campers on the evening of Friday 25th for a segment of the festival that is affectionately known as “We Are Camping”. Campers are offered an exclusive extra night of music and memories to mark the opening of the festival, with two stages playing host to a range of up and coming industry artists. The Ants Stage will showcase the best in house and electronica, with sets from house duo, CamelPhat, techno DJ, Davide Squillace, Queen of Jackathon, Heidi, house-come-techno duo, Senzala and American-British DJ, Secondcity.

If you prefer your music a little more electronic, then head on over to the We Are Bass stage which combines the inescapable rhythm of house with the unpredictability of electronica. Appearing on the We Are Bass stage is none other than electronic artist, Darkzy, as well as a set from dance DJ, Holy Goof. Announced recently as part of the phase 5 line up is René LaVice, whose drum’n’bass show on Radio 1 suggests great things for his set at We Are. Mixing things up a bit by adding an element of street into the mix will be a DJ set by former rapper of “The Streets” fame, Mike Skinner, who has swapped hip-hop for disk-jockeying in more recent years. Also gracing the stage with a set that is sure to push the boundaries is British DJ, Shy FX, whose sound simultaneously encompasses drum’n’bass, hip-hop, jungle, reggae and almost everything in between. Topping off the We Are Bass stage will be a performance from none other than dance legend Skepsis. Clearly, there ain’t no party like a We Are party!

Saturday

The festival formally opens on Saturday 26th May with a line-up that is hard to beat. If house, dance and electro are your cups of tea then frankly, We Are cannot be beaten by any other bank holiday festival. With around ten stages open to revellers, there will be something for everyone at every time of day, so feel free to explore! You never know, you might leave with a new favourite artist.

The We Are FSTVL stage hosted by Kiss FM is somewhat legendary, and the legend continues this year by showcasing a ground-breaking line-up of chart-topping artists. Personally, we are most excited for performances from Jax Jones, Sigma, Tough Love, Gorgon City and Hannah Wants, and as if that wasn’t enough, the drop of the phase 5 line-up revealed a whole host of new performers that, if possible, got us even more hyped for this stage. Come here for sets by Andy C, DJ EZ, My Nu Leng and Sammy Porter with George Mensah. This stage is going to be wild: you have been warned!

The festivals secondary self-hosted stage is affectionately known as BassJam, hosted by the aforementioned We Are Bass. Must-see performers from this stage include Big Shaq, who you would be mad to miss, Lethal Bizzle, Sub Focus and Tom Zanetti, but there is plenty more happening there to keep you entertained.

Other stages include the Hyte Stage, featuring performances from Carl Cox and Mall Grab, Circoloco featuring sets from Denis Sulta, Jackmaster and Joseph Capriati, and the Glitterbox stage, who is home to artists from Belgian nu-disco DJ, Aeroplane, to house DJ, Melvo Baptiste. The list of stages and the artists performing on them is truly endless and seriously impressive, most notably, the Koppaberg Outsider stage which this year presents Sam Divine, who is bringing along a host of her also incredibly talented musical friends. As you can see, Saturday at We Are is simply not to be missed!

Sunday

We hope you manage to sleep a wink after Saturday’s antics, because you’re going to need some serious energy to get through Sunday’s explosive line-up! We’re going to kick things off at the Defected stage, which plays host to the likes of Armand Van Helden, Low Steppa, MK, Sam Divine and Simon Dunmore. Also unmissable is the Disturbing stage hosted by We Are Bass, whose incredible line-up includes none other than Bugzy Malone, Charlie Sloth, Mistajam, Nathan Dawe, Not3s, Pendulum and Yungen, plus many more. As you can see, Sunday is shaping up to be a killer, but we’re only just getting started!

The We Are FSTVL stage features headliners that are currently breaking the boundaries of the genres they fall within, including names like Eric Prydz, Bicep and Marco Carola. Other stages include the Paradise Stage presented by Jamie Jones, Rinse presented by the Desperados Club and Eden presents Tropical Wonderland, all of which uphold We Are’s reputation of showcasing nothing but the best of the best. We hope we’ve made a great case in proving to you that, if you love all things music and are lucky enough to be off work on the bank holiday weekend, We Are FSTVL truly is the only place to be!

Closing Release tickets are running low, so grab yours while you still can! Head to http://www.wearefstvl.com/tick ets/ for the best bank holiday weekend yet.

See you in the field! 

 

By Elise Harvey