The Downs Festival is a (usually) two day arts festival which takes place on

The Downs, Bristol The Downs are an area of public open limestone downland in Bristol, England. They consist of Durdham Down to the north and east and Clifton Down to the south, separated by Stoke Road. Durdham Down Durdham Down is the north and east part of t ...

annually, with the first event being held on September 4, 2016 with the headliner being the Bristol-based

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band

Massive Attack Massive Attack are an English trip hop collective formed in 1988 in Bristol by Robert "3D" Del Naja, Adrian "Tricky" Thaws, Andrew "Mushroom" Vowles and Grant "Daddy G" Marshall. The debut Massive Attack album '' Blue Lines'' was releas ...

. Over the years, it has hosted the likes of

Elbow The elbow is the region between the arm and the forearm that surrounds the elbow joint. The elbow includes prominent landmarks such as the olecranon, the cubital fossa (also called the chelidon, or the elbow pit), and the lateral and the me ...

Groove Armada Groove Armada are an English electronic music duo, composed of Andy Cato and Tom Findlay. They achieved chart success with their singles "At the River", " I See You Baby" and " Superstylin'". The duo have released nine studio albums, four of w ...

Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds are an English rock band formed in 2010 as the solo moniker of former Oasis songwriter, lead guitarist, and backing vocalist Noel Gallagher. The touring band consists of former Oasis members Gem Archer (guit ...

and IDLES.

History

2016

2016 was the inception of what is now known as The Downs Festival. This event had the

band

headlining, with other acts including Primal Scream, Skepta and Savages. This year was also plagued by inclement weather, with there being a torrential downpour for most of the day - this has been described as "the foulest weather I have ever encountered outside of a sci-fi film" by a reviewer.

2017

The headliner for 2017 was the British

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

. Other acts for this year included De La Soul, Mike Skinner, and

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. This time round, the weather proved to be much more promising, with "a colourful helter skelter" and "acres of food vans".

2018

This year held

(and

Paul Weller Paul John Weller (born John William Weller; 25 May 1958) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Weller achieved fame with the punk rock/ new wave/mod revival band the Jam (1972–1982). He had further success with the blue-eyed soul mu ...

), The Heavy,

Goldie Clifford Joseph Price MBE (born 19 September 1965), better known as Goldie, is a British music producer and DJ. Initially gaining exposure for his work as a graffiti artist, Goldie became well known for his pioneering role as a musician in t ...

, and Basement Jaxx. This year, there were problems with queuing for toilets and adequate bins, as one attendee would describe it as "this event took the form of lining up for the bogs (that and bin-dodging, as the carpet of crushed, crunching cans underfoot)"

2019

The most recent occurrence of the festival was during the final weekend of August 2019. This year saw the

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

-based punk rock band IDLES and Irish

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad music genre, genre of Punk Music, punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde s ...

band

Fontaines D.C. Fontaines D.C. are an Irish post-punk band formed in Dublin in 2017. The band consists of Grian Chatten (vocals), Carlos O'Connell (guitar), Conor Curley (guitar), Conor Deegan III (bass), and Tom Coll (drums). After meeting while attending mu ...

, with

Lauryn Hill Lauryn Noelle Hill (born May 26, 1975) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, and record producer. She is often regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, as well as being one of the most influential musicians of her generation. ...

and Grace Jones headlining the Saturday night. Other acts included Heavy Lungs on the Information Stage joined by DITZ, Talk Show and Milo's Planes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Downs Festival Music festivals in Bristol 2016 establishments in England Music festivals established in 2016 The Downs, Bristol