Land Of Kings Festival 2011

Written by Manu Ekanayake Wednesday, 20 April 2011 15:25

News -

Land Of Kings is a festival that’s all about Dalston, London’s newest clubbing playground. It’s on from Thursday 28th to Friday 29th April, so if you want to see the likes of 2manyDJs, Hannah Holland, the Idjuts and ace new band D/R/U/G/S getting down in the hippest part of town, read on.

Shoreditch, let’s be honest, has already happened. But just follow the Kingsland Road to Dalston and you’ll find a locale that’s well and truly buzzing with new venues and parties – as we’ve told you before. But now it’s time for the yearly Land Of Kings, which was the first festival to really get behind the area as a nightlife hotspot, back when it started three years ago.

Nick Griffiths, the event’s co-founder told us, ‘We’ve been doing Land Of Kings in Dalston since 2009 and I was running parties here for two years before that. It’s kind of insane how much Dalston’s changed, even in 5 years. But we've always tried to do our own thing, as well as reflect what's happening in the area... so whilst new venues and bars are added each year, we keep searching for spaces that either haven't really been used before or else not in the way we use them...

‘This year we've got a street party in an old garage, a rooftop  cafe, a pop-up betting shop in bunker and the return of our "Rave in a  Cave" - a party in (local Turkish eatery) Stone Cave’, explains Nick, massively under-selling it as he does so. With ace DJs like disco-meets-house boys Wild Geese, neo-soul from Giles Peterson’s Brownswood label, rave heroes Shut & Dance and the Ragga Twins and the amazing, hip-hop/dubstep/drunk-sounding Ghostpoet, Land Of Kings is like Dalston itself – cool and crazy in equal measure.

Check out the various events that occur as part of LOK:

*Asolut Dalston* (Saam ' Part Of The Weekend Never Dies' Farahmand films festival-goers on Thurs, then parties AV-style at the Arcola Theatre with 2manyDJs on Fri with the new footage as a backdrop.)

*Havana Club Paladar* (presenting a sonic culture clash between London and Cuba)

*Royal Wedding Voodoo Remix *( a sardonic theatrical take on Prince William's fortcoming wedding)