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The essential guide to Victoria Park’s All Points East festival 2021

Popular music festival All Points East has announced it will return for its third edition 27-30 August, joining forces with Field Day to conclude the festivities on the Sunday. Tickets are now available for Saturday 28 and Sunday 29, with more announcements to follow.

Here’s the lowdown on All Points East’s Saturday lineup which includes headliners Jamie xx and Kano…

After its Covid-induced absence from Victoria Park in 2020, the festival will take place on the late August bank holiday. The excitement that live outdoor music events brings has ratcheted up after the news that Kano and Jamie xx will be headlining the weekend’s coveted Saturday night slot. 

Fellow Londoners Nubya Garcia, Arlo Parks and Little Simz accompany the headliners on a bill which puts home-grown talent front and centre.

‘It feels so great to finally be announcing our first day of All Points East 2021,’ says Jim King, CEO of European Festivals. ‘The chance to get back in the summer in Victoria Park is itself alone a reason to celebrate. The fact that we are coming back with such a great first line-up announcement makes this an even sweeter moment.’

Friday night headliner: strong female offering including Jorja Smith

All Points East opens its four-day festival at Victoria Park with a packed schedule of 15 acts, spanning the past, present, and future of the contemporary pop and electronic scenes; including some fun surprises like London’s Afro-jazz outfit Sons of Kemet. 

Grammy-nominated R&B vocalist Jorja Smith, Celeste, Lapsley and more, give this year’s opening day a strong core of female performers to satisfy any pop or neo-soul fans. 

The festival will also feature Mura Masa, hailing from Guernsey and a mainstay of Soundcloud’s first generation of breakout dance artists from the twenty-tens.

Saturday night headliner Kano coming to the home of grime

Kano played a crucial role in the grime music scene, the global phenomenon which grew out of the Roman in the early noughties. After a quick break from the music industry during which he starred in acclaimed TV programme Top Boy, Kano returned with 2016’s Made in the Manor. The album was a homecoming; shortlisted for a Mercury prize, its lead single “3 Wheel-Ups” featured a music video shot on our very own Roman Road. 

Although he grew up in East Ham, Kano often frequented the Roman’s Rhythm Division, alongside other grime legends Dizzee Rascal and Stormzy. 

Sunday: Field Day returns to Victoria Park

Instead of remaining at The Drumsheds in north London, Field Day is coming back east to its “spiritual home” of Victoria Park, which hosted the event for a decade from 2007 to 2017. The one-day event has shifted from July 10 to August 29, the Sunday of the bank holiday weekend and the day after All Points East. Do you have the stamina to dance your way through both?

Electronic fans rejoice, as Field Day’s outstanding line-up remains largely unchanged from their 2019 offering.

Belfast duo Bicep tops the bill with their only London festival performance of the summer, joined by Floating Points, The Blessed Madonna, Ross From Friends, Mount Kimbie and more all set to play.

North London native – with Caribbean roots – DJ Josey Rebelle, will play a ‘genre-bending’ set after dominating top-tier dance floors worldwide.

Monday’s headliner: Bombay Bicycle Club are back

For those who have survived three days of high-energy jumping and need respite, Monday’s playbill shifts into lighter indie-rock territory, bringing groups like Bombay Bicycle Club, FOALS, and Gang of Youths to the stage. 

But rest assured, some more electronic artists are waiting on the flanks. Caribou (Dan Snaith), is set to add a final dose of woozy dance energy to close out festivities.

Home grown acts at All Points East

One of the best things about All Points East is its bountiful selection of London based artists, showcasing the very best of upcoming talent from in and around the capital.

An All Points East favourite, Little Simz returns in the wake of her latest LP Drop 6. The record was universally praised and track “might bang might not” became the soundtrack of the summer.

Nubya Garciais a rising star from the exciting London jazz movement who already earned worldwide acclaim. Her first ever solo LP SOURCE offers up a dynamic and exploratory collection that has positioned her as one of the most promising artists in the UK.

And West London poet-cum-singer Arlo Parks is one of the most talked about emerging artists of the past year. Pulling from a broad range of influences, including bedroom pop, indie, and R&B, she broke through with the 2019 single “Cola” and has continued a fine run of form ever since.

All Points East’s inaugural appearance was 2018, where headliners Bjork, The xx and LCD Soundsystem wowed their East London audience in dappled May sunshine. Bow’s own electro-soul duo, Honne, whose first gig was at Muxima on Roman Road, played to packed crowds in 2019, after returning from their world tour.

NBHD: In the Neighbourhood

Information about NBHD, where local businesses and market stalls will be operating, will be released in the coming weeks. In 2019, Chisenhale Dance, Richmix cinema and Tower Hamlets tennis club were involved.

Resident tickets draw for those living nearby

London Borough of Tower Hamlets will be running the annual residents ticket draw again. Residents in eligible roads can expect to receive a letter by mid-June.

The catchment area will remain the same as 2019 so that the residents closest to the park and most affected by the events have the opportunity to benefit.

As previously, the same number of tickets will be issued per event day. If or when the capacity is increased, the number of tickets available will increase proportionally.

Resident tickets map for All Points East

All All Points East and Field Day events will take place at Victoria Park, Grove Rd, London E3 5TB


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