Tokyo World

Tokyo World has quickly become a staple of the Bristol and UK festival scene, and never fails to close the season with a bang. Taking place in mid-September for 2018; headliners such as Action Bronson, Sister Sledge, Groove Armada, Mike Skinner and Lady Leshurr top the festival’s line-up which has already made headlines just a few days after its release. Once again the Tokyo World line-up is daringly eclectic with an added dimension this year of many more live bands. These include names such as headliners Sister Sledge & Morcheeba, as well as Submotion Orchestra, Dub Pistols, Dreadzone, Stereo MC’s and Bristol’s very own Laid Blak. “We have always been supportive of the next generation of festival goers, and always will be,” said Soizic Hagège, part of the event management team at Tokyo World. “And the significant inclusion of many live bands this year on the new Live Stage is something we’re very much looking forward to.” This is evident from the line up for this year’s event. Tokyo World has always been known as a festival on the forefront of modern music, with a focus on contemporary artists pushing new sounds. And now, with the expansion of the programming, the organisers are expecting an even wider audience and demographic this year. It goes without saying that the Mutiny Stage boasts a stellar line up Drum and Bass artists and this year’s main headliner for the Mutiny Stage is yet to be revealed. What’s more, the Hedonism Stage, will for the second year in a row host a cutting edge selection of House royalty, with: Erick Morillo, Maya Jane Coles, Steve Lawler, Kerri Chandler and Danny Tenaglia as the main headliners over both days. Fans of Hip Hop and Grime will not be disappointed either, as they’ll be able to enjoy sets by Ace Hood, Lethal Bizzle, Little Simz, Nadia Rose, Not3s and Ms Banks - all featured on the festival’s iconic Vulkano Stage. “We are working hard to be as inclusive as possible, and to integrate the full scope of both innovative and timeless music, but also of music fans and festival goers,” Soizic explained. “We truly feel that diversity and unity are what makes music festivals unique, and these are the values we strive to design our event around.” The event runs from midday to around 11pm on the 22nd and 23rd of September, but there are also official after-parties for both days at Motion for those who want to keep on dancing. Acts are yet to be announced for this year, but both after-parties will mainly feature Electronic and Urban music artists with a splash of Drum and Bass. While nothing has been confirmed yet, it is safe to assume that the Tokyo World organizers will continue to explore all the ways in which Tokyo World’s values can come into play in music events and to keep pushing the boundary of this ever growing Bristol grassroots festival. “We want festival goers to be completely immersed in the Tokyo World ethos,” Soizic tells us. “All our work is for people to have a memorable experience, and we are constantly thinking of new ways to bring people together.” After a few years of not organising events, the Tokyo World creators found themselves feeling similar to how they did in 2001. So they organised their very first event at Bristol's Motion nightclub. That continued with further events, each stoking the fire from the last and evolving each time to something more representative of Bristol.

In order to diversify further the Bristolian promoters organised their first one day outdoor festival, at Bristol's Castle Park in 2013. They always felt a need for an outdoor music event in their home city. Suitable locations are limited and they felt that castle park, although a central location, didn't give enough space to expand creatively. So it was decided to move Tokyo World to Eastville park in 2014.

For the people behind the scenes, everything they do is part of a creative journey. They like to keep things minimal, however are always looking to evolve. In 2015, the festival added two new stages featuring House and Techno, which has been something the festival were keen to do as it represents a large part of Bristol's music history.

The festival is using the same site in 2017, with greater space for all stages, it also allows creative sets and installations to be built especially for the event. Each creation will reflect the ethos of Tokyo World making the whole Tokyo World experience even more memorable.

2016 was absolutely amazing. However the event has grown quicker than expected. So the organisers have decided to run the Festival for a whole Weekend in 2017. Details are set to be released very soon. For what promises to be there biggest gathering to date. For more information please visit www.tokyoworld.org