Showcasing some of the UK’s best emerging artists over five days across multiple venues in Hastings, East Sussex, Hastings Fat Tuesday Music Festival (9-13 February) is the first event of the UK’s music festival calendar. From rock and indie to grime and UK hip hop, Hastings Fat Tuesday champions new music across all genres.
For 2018 we welcome raucous punk-folk sextet Skinny Lister, Canadian harmonica and beat box bluesman Son of Dave (formerly of Crash Test Dummies), horn-driven ska anthems from London’s Chainska Brassika, Rapper Chiedu Oraka, pioneer of the alternative urban scene in Hull, indie rockers Kid Kapichi, hailed as one to watch by the Evening Standard, Jetstream Ponyborn of former Wedding Present, Aberdeen & Trembling Blue Stars members, and indie four-piece Sisteray combining upbeat melodies and lyrical observations of 21st century Britain with with high-octane live shows. Some of the other artists on the line-up include: Seán McGowan, Alibi, 40 Shillings on the Drum, Jamie Smart, Dark Matta, Ded Rabbit, King Size Slim, Matilda’s Scoundrels, Sabrina Gunston, Trevor Moss & Hannah Lou, Bollywood Brass Band, and Mr Wilson’s Second Liners.One of the south coast’s creative hotspots, Hastings has a reputation for doing things a little differently and this music festival is no exception, taking the title of the UK’s largest Mardi Gras celebration. Think SXSW meets New Orleans Mardi Gras! Outlandish costumes are as much a part of the festival as cutting edge live music – Hastings knows how to party!
“I saw more great bands in one night at Hastings Fat Tuesday, than I have in the last three years of music festivals” – John Robb, journalist, TV presenter and radio commentatorHastings Fat Tuesday has been rapidly gaining ground over the last nine years and now boasts a programme of 10 featured events, more than 150 acts, and hundreds of individual performances, plus a vibrant Umbrella Parade (Sunday 11 February) bringing hundreds of people onto the streets in New Orleans-style, and UnConvention (Monday 12 February), a one-day music industry conference. Most events are free entry. The festival climax is the wild Fat Tuesday Tour (Tuesday 13 February), with 24 bands touring Hastings Old Town venues, performing three 20-minute sets each.
New for 2018, Under the Radar (Sunday 11 February) is four stages hosting the best emerging talent from across the UK + local acts, curated by BBC Introducing, The Joe Strummer Foundation, OFF AXIS Network and Incubate (from The Eggtooth Project).Adam Daly, Hastings Fat Tuesday co-founder and festival producer said: “We are delighted to welcome some of the best emerging and established acts from all over the UK to Hastings Fat Tuesday this year, as well as many great artists from Hastings’ diverse music scene.”
