If you had to pick one artist to jump on the mic for a live performance and hop on the decks on the same night at a London festival, it’d be tough to look past Skepta. Next summer, that’s what we could very well see at the first-ever ‘Big Smoke Festival’, where the rapper will also be curating the entire lineup.
With a back catalogue of floor fillers spanning back nearly two decades and more recent giant DJ sets at venues like Beams, it’s an event that makes total sense, and the live set will be Skepta’s sole performance of its kind on UK soil in 2024.
The festival will take place at Crystal Palace Park on July 6, 2024, and there are many more artists set to be announced across the day.
What can we expect from Big Smoke Festival?
Taking to Instagram Live to announce the festival, Skepta said: “I’m gassed to finally announce that Big Smoke Festival is official…I’m so excited, it’s been a wild one to do this.
“I just want to say thank you to all the supporters, it’s been a couple years that you didn’t see me on a stage…I know a lot of people have been wondering when they’ll see Skepta at a festival and I really wanted to save all that energy and put it into something that was for us, by us.”
Now, it’s a fair deduction to expect the legendary MC to perform his main set and then jump right over to perform with Jammer on the Más Tiempo stage, which is hosted by his record label. Since it’ll be a Dance Music lineup, it’s likely we’ll see Skepta shut down London on the main stage before hopping on the decks and MCing with Jammer.
Skepta continued: “There’s going to be a live stage with all your favourite acts – anyone you know that’s affiliated with Skepta. There’ll be a live stage on one side and the Más Tiempo stage which will also be a full lineup. I might bust up one stage, fly over to the other one and link with Jammer. It’s gonna be crazy.”
Tickets for Big Smoke Festival at Crystal Palace Park go on sale this Friday (December 1), and you’ll be able to find them here. Big Smoke Festival will take place on July 6, 2024.