Hackney will host a new two-day music festival in May, created by the organisers of the popular Everywhere Festival in Nottingham, which was a sell-out success last year.
Elsewhere Festival, the brainchild of music events company Dollop, will take place across venues in Hackney over the May bank holiday weekend.
In an interview with the Hackney Post, Dollop’s founder and festival organiser Sam Laurence spoke about the event, whose headliners include the Streets frontman Mike Skinner, LA-based R&B singer Kelela and, as the Hackney Post can exclusively reveal, up and coming house DJ Karma Kid.
Mr Laurence said: “We’re excited to announce Karma Kid as part of Elsewhere’s line-up. We wanted to have a combination of real up and coming artists mixed in with a few legends as well.
“There’s a nod to the bigger artists with Mike Skinner as well as some acts like Actress who are really well respected electronic producers.”
East London was the natural choice when Mr Laurence brought Dollop to London six years ago and its creative culture meant that it was also the perfect home for Elsewhere.
Elsewhere, which takes place over the weekend of 2-3 May will be held across four main sites in Hackney – The Laundry, London Fields Brewery, Hackney Picturehouse and new live music venue Oslo, as well as incorporating some smaller venues that are yet to be announced.
“I was aware that there were a few disused buildings in the area that could come together quite nicely as a joint event,” Mr Laurence explained. “Doing a festival in a city is really exciting because people don’t necessarily need to commit for a number of days, they can just pop in and out when they like.”
Weekend festivals are becoming established summer fixtures in Hackney with larger-scale events like Field Days and Lovebox attracting thousands each year.
“It’s tricky because there are so many other festivals in London, but we don’t really want to compete with them. It has been difficult because people have so many other options. Based on that, we just want to come in calmly and offer something new. The plan really is to start this year and build on it as the years go on.”
While others operate in more traditional festival formats, Elsewhere’s multi-venue approach is a new tactic in east London.
“Since we announced the festival we’ve had a lot of interest and NME picked it up which was great. The line-up feels really current and people are excited about that.”
More artists are yet to be announced and Elsewhere have got a few surprises up their sleeve.
“In the next couple of weeks we’re planning on doing some street projections of the full line up. We won’t tell people where though, so keep an eye out.”
