Skepta has announced the first line-up for the 2025 edition of his Big Smoke Festival. Find all the details below.
- READ MORE: Skepta – ‘Ignorance Is Bliss’ review
The event will return to Crystal Palace Park in south-east London on August 9 and 10 as part of South Facing Festival, following its inaugural outing last summer.
Today (March 4), organisers have confirmed the initial wave of acts for the first date. Skepta himself is due to headline on the Saturday (August 9), with the Mercury-winning artist having handpicked the rest of the bill.
He’ll be joined by the likes of Chy Cartier and Chip – the latter of whom’s anticipated new album, ‘Grime Scene Saviour’, arrives next month.
Additionally, Big Smoke Festival 2025 will present a never-seen-before B2B of Grime MC FM (JME) and The Den (Frisco) – who are described as “two legends of the UK independent scene”. The event also promises “special guests and unforgettable performances”.
The following day (Sunday August 10), Skepta’s label Más Tiempo will host a full takeover with the rapper set to deliver a DJ set. Further guests for this programme are to be confirmed in the next phase at a later date.
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In a statement, Skepta explained: “Big Smoke is a festival in London, for London and I can’t wait for fans to see what we’ve got planned for this year’s edition. We continue to think of new ways to do things differently, so I’m excited to release the full line-up. See you at the Bowl in August- greaze!”
Tickets for Saturday go on general sale at 10am GMT this Friday (March 7) – you’ll be able to buy yours here. A pre-sale for Sunday scheduled to go live at the same time – sign up here, and find more info via Ticketmaster. The general sale for Sunday tickets is expected to commence at the end of this month.
Last year’s Big Smoke Festival saw performances from the likes of The Streets, Mahalia, JME, Lancey and K-Trap. Skepta also headlined the event with his only UK live date of 2024.
In other news, Central Cee recently paid tribute to Skepta by getting a tattoo of the Boy Better Know logo. Skepta later responded by retweeting an image of Cench’s new inking, suggesting that he would get one himself in homage to Cee. “#CantRushGreatness tatt pending [sand timer emojis],” he wrote.
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