Bristol has a full Forwards festival programme

A two-day festival in Bristol has announced its final line-up, with many local acts added to the bill.

FORWARDS takes place on The Downs from 31 August to 1 September, featuring LCD Soundsystem, Four Tet, Loyle Carner and Jessie Ware.

They will be joined by a selection of recently self-announced talent including Cousin Kula, Lice and Kwazi.

“We’ve been coming to this festival for the past two years and it’s a real privilege to be invited to perform this year,” said Verișoara Kula.

The band were also announced as part of the BBC Introducing program at Glastonbury Festival.

Dave Harvey, festival director at Team Love said: “As a city, Bristol has some of the best young and emerging talent and we’re big supporters of giving them a platform to perform to big audiences.”

Also new to the line-up are Scottish rock band The Jesus and Mary Chain, Melbourne trio Glass Beams and Bristol acts Danny Chaska, Laimu and Knives.

The festival will feature Big Team’s Next Level Artist Development Program, a project specifically designed to support aspiring artists.

Local acts including alternative soul artist Sambee, Rellz & YB Micz and R&B singer Laura Dia will take the stage.

Mr Harvey said: “As organizers of the festival, it’s really important to us to help emerging artists.

“It’s tougher than ever there, that’s why projects like Next Level exist and we want to do what we can to help them get there – so local Bristol talent will always be a key part of our programming.”

Event organizers have yet to replace the Maribou State duo who were originally announced, but have now canceled all their 2024 shows due to illness.