Preview: Dot To Dot Festival 2022

Dot To Dot has been a Bristol staple since 2007 when, after two years in the North, it expanded from Nottingham to Bristol. The festival started with only three venues participating in the event, including Thekla, The Louisiana and Fiddler’s, and had some of the biggest names in indie music such as The Cribs, Kate Nash and Laura Marling.

The festival is well-known for being a great way to discover some incredible new talent in the music scene as well catching some of your favourite established artists from across the UK. It is also well-known for billing acts who will eventually become household names in the years to come. One such example is Ed Sheeran who was halfway down the billing back in 2011, The 1975 and London Grammar in 2013 and Easy Life in 2015 who went on to be headliners of the festival in 2020 (before it was cancelled).

After cancelling the festival in 2020 and then moving the event from May to September in 2021, the well-loved festival returns to it’s original weekend, May 28. Featuring another huge lineup with some of the biggest rising stars in attendance as well as a whole heft of local bands from each city.

Not only has the lineup expanded but so has the festival, with it now stretching across several kilometres of Bristol city centre. Venues now include The Lanes, O2 Academy, Rough Trade, The Island, both floors at The Louisiana, both decks at Thekla AND an outdoor stage.

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Picking up your programme and wristband at midday on the Saturday then flicking through trying to figure out who to see next is one of the most exciting parts of the festival. And then making sure none of your favourite artists clash with another is definitely one of the most stressful parts.

Top of the bill for this year’s Dot To Dot Festival are the five-piece band Squid, East London rapper Ghetts and the Brighton duo Frankie Stew & Harvey Gunn. Also in attendance will be Alfie Templeman, Cassia, Swim Deep and Baby Queen, amongst many local bands yet to be announced.

Dot To Dot Festival booker Joshua Ward said: “D2D has always been about celebrating the best new musical talent on offer, and one of the best parts of that is seeing artists grow and develop from performing lower down our bills to becoming potential headliners.

We saw it last year with Sports Team and we’re delighted to have another example of it this year with Squid.  We can’t wait to see what’s guaranteed to be an unforgettable headline set.”

Also make sure to keep an eye out for Bristol24/7’s Recommends in this year’s festival programme! A selection of artists handpicked by our music editor highlighting the bands you won’t want to miss.

The Bristol date of Dot To Dot is Saturday 28 May and tickets are priced at £25 + booking fee and can be found here.

Main photo: Jessica Bartolini

Read more: Preview: Dot To Dot Festival 2019

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