The West Midlands’ biggest and best electronic music festival and celebration of street culture is back for a 7th edition with a move to an impressive new home at Sandwell Valley Country Park and a huge live performance from The Streets headlining in front of his biggest ever home turf crowd.
MADE Festival, the West Midlands’s biggest and best electronic music festival and celebration of street culture, has launched a massive line up to mark its 7th edition and a move to its impressive new home at Sandwell Valley Country Park. With Perry Park needed for the Commonwealth Games, Sandwell Valley Country Park has given MADE Festival the opportunity to expand again after another huge sold out event last year. Taking place on Saturday 1st August, capacity for 2020 will increase to 20,000 people underlining MADE Festival’s status as the only major festival in the region. Musically it’s also bigger than ever and continues to support homegrown talent. Bringing Mike Skinner a.k.a. The Streets back to home turf to headline at his biggest ever West Midlands show is a serious coup. The rest of the first line up announcement is typically diverse and forward-thinking, delivering the big names while still supporting the brightest rising talents across drum & bass, house, disco, hip hop and bass music, with Gorgon City, Hybrid Minds, Wilkinson, Stefflon Don, Shy FX, Sonny Fodera, Holy Goof, Horse Meat Disco, Flava D, SASASAS, Jay1, and Artwork. Sandwell Valley Country Park is easy to get to from central Birmingham and is a perfect space for MADE Festival to immerse festival-goers in a day and night of incredible music, urban arts, creative performance, delicious street food and friendly vibes.
Set in the heart of the West Midlands with 660 acres of picturesque woods, farmland, lakes and streams, there are few better locations for MADE Festival’s new home than Sandwell Valley Country Park on the outskirts of the second city. The park will be transformed into a beautiful outdoor venue, yet easily accessible from nearby conurbations - just 8 minutes from Birmingham New Street by train, and well served by trams and buses. MADE’s shuttle buses will also deliver easy transport to and from the event.
Earlier this week Mike Skinner a.k.a. The Streets teased that he would be playing a massive show this summer, his one and only date in the West Midlands this year. With fans going crazy for this not-to-be-missed event, MADE Festival is proud to bring Birmingham’s favourite son back home for a headline performance in front of an ecstatic crowd. The Streets became the voice of a generation after his 2001 breakthrough Mercury Prize-nominated album ‘Original Pirate Material’. He went on to enjoy two UK #1 albums, a further two UK top 10 albums, as well as a string of hit singles, including UK #1 hit, ‘Dry Your Eyes’. After retiring The Streets in 2011 Mike Skinner had more to say and revived his alter-ego in late 2017. His subsequent sold out tour culminated in a headline slot on the John Peel Stage at Glastonbury last year. It’s guaranteed The Streets will be sharp and bang up for it in front of a huge home crowd at MADE Festival.
Also announced today are festival favourites Gorgon City. The North London duo have built a huge global following through electrifying live performances and a stream of top-charting releases including recent smash ’There For You’, a collaboration with MK, while their ‘Realm’ imprint allows them to explore more underground sounds. Hybrid Minds step up as undeniable rising stars of the drum & bass scene - proven when they sold out Printworks in 24 hours at the end of last year. Their distinctive soulful take on the genre has been consistently high quality and MADE festival-goers will be excited for their debut. More drum & bass comes from Wilkinson, quite simply one of the biggest names in the scene. He’s released on Ram Records, Hospital Records, crossed over numerous tracks including the top 10 anthem ‘Afterglow’ and sold well over a million records. He’s remixed everyone from Rag ’n’ Bone Man to Wiley and he’s heading to MADE Festival this summer.
One of the most exciting current live performers, Stefflon Don also makes her MADE debut. Born in Birmingham Stefflon Don won a MOBO for Best Female in 2017, an NME award for Best New Artist in 2018 and has enjoyed multiple top 20 hits. Her unique rap style overflows with attitude and her performance should not be missed. The don of jungle and drum & bass, Shy FX is also announced today. Since breaking through 25 years ago with his ragga jungle track ‘Original Nuttah’ with UK Apache, Shy FX has enjoyed a string of big releases and remains a mainstay of the jungle and drum & bass scene. He’s produced and remixed for Dizzee Rascal, Kano and most recently Chase & Status, while his collab with Kojey Radical and Ghetts ‘Bad After We’ was the soundtrack to the 'Top Boy' trailer on Netflix. Shy FX on the decks will never disappoint. One for the house heads, Australian talent, Sonny Fodera returns to MADE Festival. Sonny is an accomplished producer, enjoying tens of millions of streams on Spotify with releases on his Solotoko label and remixes of the likes of Calvin Harris, and as a DJ he is simply one of the biggest draws in house music.
Holy Goof put bassline on the map, growing an army of fans along the way. His forthcoming Globes 2 live show sold out Printworks and his solo productions are always hugely popular, leading to a recent collaboration with Zinc. His set at MADE last year was phenomenal and, as another West Midlands talent, the festival welcomes him back for more. Horse Meat Disco are announced today. The duo of Luke Howard and Jim Stanton are master purveyors of quality disco grooves, as heard in their legendary, long running Horse Meat Disco nights in London, inspired by the halcyon days of New York disco nights like Paradise Garage. You can find Flava D where garage, grime and bassline intersect. This talented DJ brings a whole lot of energy and innovation, alone and as one third of UK garage outfit T Q D, which is why Fabric asked her to take the reins for a coveted mix in their FABRICLIVE mix series.
SASASAS return to MADE Festival. The leviathan combination of Skibadee, Shabba D, Harry Shotta, Phantasy and Macky Gee almost seems like a mini-festival wrapped up inside one act. Some of the most-explosive MCs and DJs in drum & bass history need very little introduction. The crowds are guaranteed to be jumping at Sandwell Valley Country Park. Coventry MC, Jay1 has been fast making a name for himself as a rising star. His breakout track ‘Your Mrs’ featuring his bold self assured lyrics and delivery hit a million views on social media just 3 days after release. His live performances are renowned and MADE Festival is pleased to give him the stage. Rounding up the first artist line up announcement is Artwork. The Londoner signed Skream and Benga to his label Big Apple Music when they were just teenagers and he remains known for his impeccable taste in music, top notch production and of course his ability to bring a crowd together, particularly at his ‘Art’s House’ events.
Published on 26 January 2020 by Ben Robinson
