About To Blow Previews: Southport Weekender 2018 [Festival Season Guide]

After a successful first year migrating south for a one-day festival in London, Southport Weekender Festival returns to Finsbury Park for 2018 with a killer line-up for soulful dance music aficionados.

Labelled as ‘the world’s friendliest party’ by many of its revellers, the festival will span across 9 stages representing a musical journey of the past and present, fusing together DJs, live acts and a loyal crowd.

Expect an array of music spanning across house, soul, garage, R&B and disco, with a line-up that has been curated by experts who have been running the renowned Southport Weekender parties for over 30 years.

For every disco fan, the line-up includes a rare live performance from Kathy Sledge of Sister Sledge, who is expected to sing their classic anthems from the 80s including ‘We are Family’ and ‘Lost in Music’.

The crowd will also be treated to performances from 80s king of boogie, Leroy Burgess, and ‘I’ll be your friend’ singer Robert Owens, known for his silky smooth vocals backed against 90s house anthems.

The disco don himself, Dave Lee aka Joey Negro, will be returning to the festival, as one of the supreme selectors, producers and remixers in the business, he can never fail to get a crowd moving and shaking.

Among the roster of DJs flying the flag for the States is Def Mix Recordings founder David Morales, who was catapulted to house royalty after his disco era days manning the desks at the Paradise Garage and the Loft. Fellow US DJ veterans from the NYC golden era, Jellybean Benitez and Jamie 3:26, are just some of the legendary names on the line-up.

Hip-hop turntable maestro DJ Jazzy Jeff will be bringing the ‘Summertime’ flavour to the festival this year, along with classic house legends Lil Louie Vega and Roger Sanchez.

For those looking for something a little different, Osunlade and Henrik Schwarz will quench your tastebuds for the eclectic, whereas more recent UK talent can be discovered in the forms of Henry Wu and Alexander Nut who are both known for their versatile music tastes spanning jazz, garage, hip-hop, soul and everything inbetween.

The Mi-Soul radio DJs will once again have their own tent; with the regulars all on rotation, you can catch the likes of Ronnie Herel, Sy Sez, Brandon Block and many more, playing house, soul, garage and uplifting vibes to keep the party in full swing.

Southport Weekender Festival takes place at north London’s Finsbury Park on Saturday 9th June, all VIP tickets have now sold out but you can still buy the last few remaining tickets on final release here.