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Little Simz, The Chemical Brothers and more announced for new festival Forwards

The new Bristol festival aims to put "social initiatives and timely debate at its core"

By Hollie Geraghty

Little Simz poses with her Brit Award next to a photo of Tom Rowlands
Little Simz and The Chemical Brothers will perform at the inaugural Forward Festival. (Pictures: Lawrence Jones/First Light Media/Rolling Stone UK/ Press)

Little Simz, The Chemical Brothers and Jamie xx are among acts announced on the line-up of new music festival Forwards.

The two-day Bristol festival will take place September 3-4, and will harness “the history and power of live events to bring people together for music and positive change,” according to a statement, “with social initiatives and timely debate at its core”.

Other artists joining the inaugural line-up include Caribou, Shygirl, Roisin Murphy and Khruangbin.

The festival aims to “reshape and challenge what metropolitan festivals can be today” by inviting debate with activists and political voices. The full programme is due to be announced in spring.

The event also plans to integrate CICs (Community Interest Companies) into the festival infrastructure to “nurture new talent, provide community catering at the heart of the festival and give back to communities through its own festival ecosystem”.

Forwards is the first collaboration from AEG Presents (Coachella, All Points East) and Team Love (Love Saves the Day).

The Chemical Brothers are also set to headline Field Day’s 15th anniversary festival next year alongside Kraftwerk.

The annual event at Victoria Park, which champions electronic dance music as part of All Points East, will bring together the two musical pioneers to co-headline the event on August 20, 2022.

The electronic music duo also recently announced a huge open air concert in Yorkshire this summer.

Meanwhile, 2022 BRIT Award winner Little Simz is also set to perform at a number of festivals this summer, including Reading, Sziget in Hungary, and Barcelona’s Primavera Sound.