This esteemed platform not only provides an opportunity for emerging talent to shine but also welcomes established artists from across Northern Ireland to captivate audiences with their artistry.

The festival will feature performances in various locations throughout Portrush and Portstewart, know as the music trail. With a lineup of 40 artists and more than 20 venues, the event spans across three days, providing a broad platform for both emerging talent and established artists from all corners of Northern Ireland.

Venues will include the recently renovated Portrush Playhouse, The Station, and Elephant Rock. These additions to the music trail are set to enhance the overall experience. Snow Water, in collaboration with Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council, has meticulously curated this year’s festival program. It will showcase esteemed acts from previous Atlantic Sessions, known for consistently delivering sold-out shows.

Renowned artists such as, The Bonnevilles, No Oil Paintings, and esteemed singer-songwriters like Ciaran Lavery, Matt McGinn, and ROE, will grace the stage, presenting their latest albums from 2022 and unveiling new releases. Notably, select performances will be featured during the highly anticipated ‘Sunday Session’ hosted by Ralph McLean.

The Atlantic Sessions has transcended from more than a mere music festival, as it embodies a profound appreciation for Northern Irish culture and offers a captivating exploration of the region’s rich musical heritage. Attendees are invited to embark on an enchanting musical odyssey, tracing pathways that wind through esteemed music venues, exquisite restaurants, luxurious hotels, and vibrant bars, resulting in a riveting tapestry that entwine music and local culture seamlessly.

Beginning Monday, October 2nd, BBC Radio 1 hosts Rickie, Melvin and Charlie will air a new Live Lounge every Monday to Thursday throughout the month. Each performance will take place at 12pm. The Radio 1 trio announced the details of the new live lounge month, along with the line-up on air during their morning show on September 5.

Rickie, Melvin and Charlie are the new hosts of Radio 1’s iconic Live Lounge (Monday – Thursday, 10.30am – 1pm)!

Big up @RickieHW @Melvinodoom & @charliehedges. We know you’ll smash it! pic.twitter.com/0xze7rtyHW

— BBC Radio 1, 1Xtra & Asian Network Press Office (@BBCRadio1PR) April 20, 2021

  Yungblud shared a post on Twitter. He said “just wait you see what we got planned”

just wait till you see what we got planned@bbcradio1 #liveloungemonth pic.twitter.com/NlAjB3cNuv

— YUNGBLUD is a lowlife (@yungblud) September 5, 2023

Radio 1’s Live Lounge will be graced with the presence of some of the world’s most popular artists, performing both their own musical pieces as well as unexpected covers. We will have the pleasure of Olivia Dean’s performance, whose album Messy has been nominated for a Mercury Prize Award 2023.

Listeners of Radio 1 and BBC Sounds can tune in live to all performances from Live Lounge Month. They will also be able to view the performances on-demand on Radio 1’s BBC iPlayer and YouTube channels.

Olivia Rodrigo, whose new album GUTS  launches September 8, visited London and popped into the Radio 1 studio with host Melvin Odoom to make a very hot announcement. Melvin spoke to Olivia and said, “We are so excited to have you here today, because the real reason you’re in the studio right now is because you have a massive announcement, right?”

Olivia made here live lounge performance official and told the Radio 1 listeners in retort to Melvin “I’m so excited to announce, “I’m going to be kicking off Radio 1’s live lounge month 2023 and it’s going to be October. I’m very excited, I’m filming it in LA, and it’s going to be a ball.”

BBC Radio 1, invites listeners to test their expertise, in what they say is their “Ultimate Live Lounge Quiz.” Preparing listeners for an extravaganza of bejewelled performances for this coming October.

Below you can see the full line-up list for the Live Lounge Month 2023.

Artist Performance Date’s

Olivia Rodrigo –  Mon 2nd October
Troye Sivan  – Tues 3rd October
Jorja Smith  – Weds 4th October
Madison Beer  – Thurs 5th October
Declan McKenna –  Mon 9th October
Leigh-Anne –  Tues 10th October
Royal Blood –  Weds 11th October
Dominic Fike – Thurs 12th October
Holly Humberstone – Tues 17th October
YUNGBLUD – Weds 18th October
Becky Hill – Thurs 19th October
Usher – Mon 23rd October
Jax Jones – Weds 25th October
Doja Cat – Thurs 26th October

After taking the drug the teenager fell ill and was taken to hospital where he unfortunately died. The teenager’s parents called for a ban on under 18s attending future festivals. As part of an ongoing inquest into festival safety Festival republic managing director Melvin Benn said that it would be “very unlikely“ that an under 18 ban would be implemented, instead he proposed that “the festival will operate a drugs operation aimed at weeding out dealers and having them removed from site“.

New additional measures of high security have also been implemented in response to the teenagers death, these new measures include on site support hubs, beefed up security staff, sniffer search dogs on every entrance, all of which of course aim to reduce the risk of death to attendees who intend to imbibe illicit substances. Benn elaborated further explaining that “the intention is that no camper is 200m from a support hub“.

In recent years, despite its illegality, the reality of recreational drug uses relationship with music festivals has been reluctantly acknowledged but ultimately accepted by festival organisers, the official Reading and Leeds website even states that: “We do not recommend you take drugs, but if you do please bear the following in mind” on its drug policy page.

Practical precautions started to appear in the mid 2010s with the introduction of drug check kits distributed by British non-profit organisation The Loop in an attempt to reduce harm to drug takers. However despite the existence of progressive benevolent precaution providers like The Loop, according to The Guardian at least 14 younger people aged 18 or under have died as result of taking illicit drugs at a music festival, a statistic that points further towards the need for honest and open drug education and awareness instead of inspiring endless debates that subject those that willingly choose to use drugs to supplementary stigmatisation.

On a lighter note last month Reading and Leeds festival confirmed that The 1975 would be the events final headliners after Lewis Capaldi dropped out. This years other headliners include Billie Eilish, The Killers, Foals, Imagine Dragons and Sam Fender. Other acts also included in this years line up are Wet Leg, Steve Lacy, Bicep, Becky Hill, Central Cee and many many more. Reading and Leeds Festival takes place on 25th-27th of August 2023.

dj sweet6teen, Ahadadream, Hannah Holland, Aloka, Nadine Noor, Niks, Retromigration Marie Malarie, and DJ Wawa are just some of the DJs also on this year’s bill. For the full line up see the poster above.

Doncaster-born London-based artist I.JORDAN will be one of the headliners and commented on Instagram that they “cannot wait”. The DJ, who has worked with Fred Again.., played sets worldwide, and appeared on the cover of NME and DJ Mag, is sure to deliver an unforgettable set. Watch their boiler room performance below:

The location of the festival will only be revealed to ticket holders. Currently, the final tier of tickets is on sale. For remaining tickets see here.

“We are gassed to announce this line-up,” The Field Maneuvers team wrote on Instagram and Twitter. “It’s our 10 year anniversary of surviving by the skin of our teeth so we thought we’d pull out all the stops… Some of our absolute FM die-hard favourites are making a return and we’ve got some names that we have admired from a distance making their debuts.”

FM2023 line-up lesssgo

It’s our 10 year anniversary of surviving by the skin of our teeth so we thought we’d pull out all the stops… Some of our FM die-hard favourites make a return and some names that we have admired for a while making FM debuts. pic.twitter.com/0N6X4JFmPq

— Field Maneuvers (@fieldmaneuvers) June 1, 2023

The organisers continued: “This party is a labour of love and to see the beautifully considered curation from each of our stage hosts come to fruition is a delight. Stage splits, exclusive b2bs and full takeover line-ups will all be revealed soon.” Several artists have shared their excitement on Twitter such as creative director at Rye Wax Rachel Williams who will be doing a takeover alongside other Rye Wax stars.

This will be my third year playing FM and maybe my 5th or 6th time attending! And I’m really excited to be doing our very own @Ryewax stage takeover Rye Wax All Stars + @yo_watson + @j_pdre + me + dj wawa is kinda the lineup of dreams no? https://t.co/Gm2ltOYZR3

— ambient babestation meltdown (@rachaelwilliams) June 1, 2023

DJ/producer Chrissy shared his joy at his spot on the bill writing “Coming back to the best rave on earth”.

Coming back to the best rave on earth FM 2023 I can’t waaaait https://t.co/9gy5dk8j2j — Chrissy (@chrissytrax) June 1, 2023

Bored Lord, aka Memphis-born multidisciplinary artist Daria Lourd, also wrote “see yall out on in the field”.

see yall out in the field https://t.co/WuAJOLYV1j

— Daria (@bored_lord) June 1, 2023

Last October, the Field Maneuvers organisers launched a Crownfunder page asking attendees and rave lovers to help save the independent festival after last year’s event failed to break even. Thankful the campaign received huge support from the community and the festival managed to reach its target of £40,000 before its deadline ensuring the future of the festival is safe.

Jovi Bunce and Abigal Pearce from Didsbury were the fortunate couple to win the tickets. In the video Jovi uploaded to YouTube on the 25^th April, an unexpecting Abigal is seen kissing the bar before opening it and finding the coveted tickets. The camera then flips to Jovi doing a victory lap and jumping with joy whilst shouting “No way!”. Charlie Bucket would be proud. Watch the video below:

For anyone wondering what winning a Golden Ticket to #Glastonbury Festival looks like… pic.twitter.com/kGZwp53Xzn

— Glasto Fest Feed (@GlastoFestFeed) April 25, 2023

Tony’s Chocolonely, whose mission is to make chocolate 100% exploitation free by ending modern slavery and child labour in the chocolate industry, has teamed up with Oxfam to create the bars. All profits from the limited-edition bars will go to Glastonbury’s charity partner Oxfam. Set up by Dutch television producer and journalist Teun van de Keuken back in 2005, Tony’s Chocolonely is an award-winning company that made its products available in the UK in 2019. The ticket containing chocolate bars will be available to purchase until the 16^th June. Bars are sold out online but are still available to purchase at your local Oxfam shop for just £3.99. Find your local store here. Tony’s Chocolonely shared the video of the couple winning the tickets on its Twitter page writing, “Drum roll.. we have our first winner! Congrats to Jovi, who after missing out on resale bought his winning @oxfamgb @glastonbury bar at @OxfamDidsbury”. They confirmed that the couple are the first winners in their caption: “No need for FOMO. There’s still 4 more pairs of tickets to be found”. One of the videos the chocolate company shared on its Twitter currently has over 33.4K views.

Drum roll.. we have our first winner! Congrats to Jovi, who after missing out on resale bought his winning @oxfamgb @glastonbury bar at @OxfamDidsbury No need for FOMO. There’s still 4 more pairs of tickets to be found Find your local Oxfam: https://t.co/X7jXM5Kgfa pic.twitter.com/30mZ4TOtM4 — Tony’s Chocolonely UK & IRE (@TonysChocoUK_IE) April 25, 2023

This year the last wave of Glastonbury tickets sold out in just six minutes on the 23^rd April leaving many wannabe festival-goers gutted they missed out. The festival will be held from 21^st – 25^th June on Worthy Farm with Arctic Monkeys, Guns N’ Roses, and Elton John headlining the Pyramid Stage. Other acts playing Glasto include Lana Del Rey, Lizzo, The War On Drugs, Chvrches, Shygirl, Rina Sawayama, Lil Nas X, Blondie, Alt-J, Christine And The Queens, Carly Rae Jepsen, Fred Again.., FLO, Joey Bada$$, and Manic Street Preachers. See the above poster for the full line up.

Standout acts on the line-up include Crumb, Ryoji Ikeda, Porridge Radio, Sorry, Wednesday, MAVI & MIKE, Sleater-Kinney, U.S. Girls, Yaeji, yuné pinku, Youth Wagoon, and a headlining set from Weyes Blood closing the festival. For a full list of artists see the poster below:

So far it has been announced that the experimental Japanese sound artist Ryoji Ikeda will be performing at The Barbican on the 8^th November. The Brooklyn-based psychedelic band Crumb will be playing Hackney Church on the 9^th November. On the same evening, the American rappers MAVI & MIKE will be teaming up to headline Earth Hall.

Riot Grrl heroes Sleater-Kinney will be joined by U.S. Girls to play the Roundhouse on the 10^th November. Alabaster DePlume will be playing Koko whilst Dudu Tassa pairs up with Jonny Greenwood at Hackney Church on the 10^th November.

On the 11^th November, the festival will take over multiple venues around Dalston. Artists involved include Porridge Radio, Sorry, Wednesday, Just Mustard, and many more. Meanwhile, electronic house artist Yaeji will be joined by Jessy Lanza, yuné pinku, Debby Friday, and blackwinterwells at the Roundhouse.

Idaho dream pop artist Youth Lagoon is set to play the Earth Theatre on the 12^th November. Closing the festival on the 13^th November will be the whimsical baroque pop artist Weyes Blood at Eventim Apollo.

Tickets for the Yaeji and Weyes Blood events are on sale now. All other events go on sale this Friday 28^th April at 10 a.m. Click here for tickets and for a complete list of artists and venues.

This will be the third year the festival has been held in London. Last year acts such as George Clanton, Injury Reserve, Faye Webster, Animal Collective, Courtney Barnett, and Cate Le Bon played to audiences around London as part of the festival.

The Pitchfork Music Festival will also be held in Paris and Berlin this year. Though the lineup has yet to be announced it’s confirmed that Weyes Blood will be headlining both festivals.

The London festival is a spin-off of Pitchfork’s Summer Music Festival which has been held annually in Chicago since 2005. This year the festival will be held from 21^st – 23^rd July with acts such as The Smile, Alvvays, Perfume Genius, Big Thief, Weyes Blood, King Krule, Bon Iver, Kelela, and JPEGMAFIA gracing the stage at Union Park.

Californian dark wave artist Cold Cave will start as the support act for the duo followed by the Scottish avant-pop band Young Fathers who will be supporting them for their London show. French singer Jehnny Beth (formally of the British punk band Savages) will support the band in late June and early July. Berlin-based band Hope and British trip-hop band HÆLOS will also be supporting.

Prior to the announcement, Martin Gore praised Young Fathers to NME: “I’ve been having to listen to a lot of stuff for remixes and support artists lately. A band I thought were very unique were Young Fathers. I’ve been listening to their albums and watching live performances, and they’re just so different to everything else”.

Depeche Mode has already commenced their Memento Mori world tour, their first tour in five years, which started in Sacramento on the 23rd March. Playing a mix of their classics and new songs around the globe until mid-December, the band is set to play more than 80 dates with shows in total across North America and Europe.

The European leg will be comprised of 34 dates and will kick off in the Netherlands next month. The band will be performing in London on the 17th June at Twickenham Stadium. They are also playing Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona and Madrid this Summer. For tickets see here.

Depeche Mode released their fifteenth studio album Memento Mori on the 24th March through Columbia and Mut. The brooding electro-industrial album is the band’s first record since the passing of keyboard player and founding member Andy “Fletch” Fletcher.

The fate of the iconic group from Basildon was uncertain following Fletcher’s passing in May last year. The remaining members Martin Gore and Dave Gahan were unsure whether they could continue. Gahan told the NME that he was sure “Fletch was going to outlive all of us” and his death “still doesn’t feel real”. The band decided to continue despite their apprehensions as Gore told Live Nation Entertainment, “We’re sure this is what he would have wanted, and that has really given the project an extra level of meaning”.

For the full list of Depeche Mode’s European dates see below:

16/05/23 – Ziggo Dome – Amsterdam
20/05 – Sportspalein – Antwerpen
23/05 – Friends Arena – Stockholm
26/05 – Leipziger Festwiese – Leipzig
28/05 – Národný Futbalový Štadión – Bratislava
31/05 – F Matmut Atlantique – Bordeaux
02/06 – Primavera Sound Festival – Barcelona
04/06 – Merkur Spiel-Arena – Dusseldorf
06/06 – Merkur Spiel-Arena – Dusseldorf
09/06 – Primavera Sound Festival – Madrid
11/06 – Stadion Wankdorf – Bern
14/06 – Malahide Castle – Dublin
17/06 – Twickenham Stadium – London
20/06 – Olympiastadion – Munich
22/06 – Stade Pierre Mauroy – Lille
24/06 – Stade de France – Paris
27/06 – Parken – Copenhagen
29/06 – Deutsche Bank Park – Frankfurt
04/07 – Groupama Stadium – Lyon
07/07 – Olympiastadion – Berlin
12/07 – Stadio Olympico – Rome
14/07 – San Siro – Milan
16/07 –Stadio Renato Dall’Ara – Bologna
21/07 –Wörthersee Stadion – Klagenfurt
23/07 –Arena Zagreb – Zagreb
26/07 –Arena Națională – Bucharest
28/07 – Puskás Aréna – Budapest
30/07 – Letňany Airport – Prague
02/08 – PGE Narodowy – Warsaw
06/08 – Tallinna Lauluväljak – Tallinna
08/08 – Kaisaniemen Puisto – Helsinki
11/08 – Telenor Arena – Oslo

The band, who have been known in the past to take delight in the absurd, combine glam and prog rock to create a chaotic 40-minute epic. Inside the belly of the worm, England has evolved into a feudal system ruled by “the Devertebrates” – lords who have removed their spines to honour the great beast. Henry Spychalski, the lead singer of the ensemble, transforms himself into the heroic leader of the counter-resistant group called “the Grunters” who attempt to escape from the creature.

The frontman explained: “The Worm here is both a metaphor for capitalist greed, and the embodiment of a whole generation’s anxiety, dread and fear in the face of ever-looming apocalypse and world-ending natural disasters”. A manifesto further explaining the great mythical lore behind the album is also available to purchase alongside a physical copy here.

Music videos for “The End Is Now”, “Wyrmland”, and “The Worm” have brought to life the nightmarish England all directed by Spychalski.

Watch the video for “The End Is Now” below:

HMLTD started off as Happy Meal Ltd. in London in 2015. However, the band didn’t release their debut EP, Hate Music Last Time Delete, until 2018, and their debut album, West of Eden, until 2020. Having signed to the major label Sony in 2017, the band were dropped after inconsolable disagreements between the label and the band on their image and direction. Their first and second albums have been released through the London-based independent label Lucky Number.

Back in 2017, the flamboyant band, who often play with gendered dress codes, came under fire for what some perceived as queer baiting. “We’re trying to challenge toxic masculinity and we’re doing that from the perspective we can do that from, as the human beings we were born into being, which is predominantly straight cis men,” lead singer Henry Spychalski told DIY Magazine. “But I don’t think having that role should exclude or prohibit you from taking on that political perspective and from taking on what is probably the most violent, toxic, cruel force in our society. We’re learning from queer methods and we always try to express that indebtedness”.

The theatrical band is sure to put on a show during their two consecutive dates at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London this May. They will also be taking the stage at End of the Road Festival this summer. For tickets see here.

For HMTLD’s UK dates see below:

18/05/23 – Institute of Contemporary Arts – London
19/05 – Institute of Contemporary Arts – London
31/08 – End of the Road Festival – Salisbury