Flow Festival 2014 - First artists announced

Tired of traipsing through muddy fields? Fed-up of mediocre burger-van fare? Ditch the wellies and treat your tastebuds to some gourmet grub as Finland's premier music festival Flow prepares to host an urbanite's ultimate festival fantasy.

Flow Festival 2014 - First artists announced Photo by Jussi Hellsten/Flow Festival

Returning for its eleventh year, Flow will take place from 8th-10th August 2014 in the shadows of Helsinki’s historic Suvilahti power plant, promising an adventurous range of programming that encompasses international headliners and inspiring local talent alongside a smorgasbord of delicious festival diversions.
 
A boutique event that attracts 20,000 visitors a day, a key feature of Flow is the discovery of intimate indoor and outdoor venues across the site, which numbered a total of 12 in 2013. From the notable Balloon 360° stage, whose speciality – aside from hosting world talent like Junip – is its pressurised balloon roof and complete access to the audience, to the imposing Black Tent, providing a party-starting dancefloor with a 4000 person capacity and the platform for last year’s Haim and Disclosure performances, there’s something to rouse every reveller.

In celebration of its milestone tenth birthday last year, the event also boasted special performances from the likes of Alicia Keys, Cat Power and The Knife, along with memorable appearances by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and Angel Haze, whose stage-hopping antics wooed the entire crowd.

Beyond its tradition of serving up a broad selection of eclectic music, Flow is a real foodie’s feast: renowned for its quality festival fare, which is available from a wide variety of both established local restaurants and exciting street vendors curated as carefully as the line-up itself. To complement the creative cuisine, the weekend also offers a comprehensive taste of the visual arts. Showcasing exhilarating displays, such as the 2013 appearances of contemporary theatre-circus groups Kallo Collective and Krepsko Theatre Group, along with compelling art house cinema and design, the festival embraces Helsinki’s penchant for urban spaces and modern art to perfection.

Besides the comeback gig of OutKast, the festival features dark indie rock from The National, hip hop from South Africa's controversial Die Antwoord and R&B soul artist Janelle Monáe. Others coming to Suvilahti will be Darkside – the joint project of Nicolas Jaar and multi-instrumentalist Dave Harrington – U.S.-based Blood Orange that rose to prominence with last year’s Cupid Deluxe, and Charlie XCX who is rolling out one hit after another. This year's festival crowd will also witness the return of the shoegazers Slowdive, promising guitar - driven indie rock from Mac DeMarco, as well as Nina Persson, the former The Cardigans singer, who released her solo debut early this year, and singer-songwriter Bill Callahan with his warm baritone recently featured on his fourth album Dream River, picked as Mojo Magazine’s album of the year 2013.

Electronic music will be prominently featured with hugely popular German Paul Kalkbrenner and French act Kavinsky, as well as a frontline of Brits including Bonobo, Mercury Award nominee Jon Hopkins, James Holden and Jamie xx – of The xx fame - all joining Flow. There’ll be soulful electro from British duo Jungle, and Little Dragon from Sweden who will release its fourth studio album in May. Meanwhile, Joey Bada$$, Action Bronson and Pusha T bring a quality dose of U.S. hip hop to Flow. African rhythms will be served up by Malian Sahara-blues out fit Tinariwen, Senegalese Mark Ernestus presents Jeri-Jeri and Les Ambassadeurs, a Malian super group including Salif Keita, Amadou & Mariam’s Amadou Bagayoko, and Cheick Tidiane Seck.

Local acts at Flow include Iisa, Death Hawks, Risto, Noah Kin, Jaakko Eino Kalevi, Eurocrack and Sound & Fury. Tuomo will perform his only Helsinki gig of the summer at Flow, while Magenta Skycode plays its only gig in Finland all year.

Line-Up So Far
Outkast / The National / Janelle Monáe / Die Antwoord / Darkside (Nicolas Jaar & Dave Harrington) / Blood Orange / Charlie Xcx / Slowdive / Mac Demarco / Nina Persson (The Cardigans) / Bill Callahan / Paul Kalkbrenner / Kavinsky (Outrun Live) / Bonobo / Jon Hopkins / James Holden / Jamie Xx / Jungle / Little Dragon / Joey Bada$$ / Action Bronson / Pusha T / Tinariwen / Mark Ernestus Presents Jerijeri / Les Ambassadeurs / Iisa / Death Hawks / Risto / Noah Kin / Jaakko Eino Kalevi / Eurocrack / Sound & Fury / Tuomo / Magenta Skycode / Mirel Wagner / Sin Cos Tan

Evlear Magazine We write articles about Music, Cars, Road Rallies, Lifestyle, and Festivals.