Yungblud has spoken about the future of Bludfest, and explained that he hopes to make the festival into a “two-day” worldwide event.
The first instalment of the Doncaster musician’s own festival took place at the National Bowl in Milton Keynes on August 11, and also saw him perform the biggest show of his career to date.
It came with a star-studded line-up too, with appearances from the likes of Lil Yachty, Soft Play, Nessa Barrett, The Damned, Lola Young, Jazmin Bean, Noahfinnce, Jesse Jo Stark, Landon Barker (the son of Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker), Hannah Grae, Aziya and more.
Now, following the 2024 edition of the live music event wrapping up – and overcoming some obstacles along the way – Yungblud has opened up about how he sees the festival growing over time.
Speaking to Kerrang!, the artist, whose real name is Dominic Harrison, revealed that he doesn’t just have plans to continue the festival, but he also wants to make it into an international event, and run for double the length of time.
“My plan is to take it to Paris and Prague and Australia,” he said. “I’d love for it to be a two-day event.”
Explaining who else he’d like to enlist, he shared which big names he would want to lock in for Bludfest 2.0. “I’d love to have Bring Me The Horizon and The Cure,” he explained. “I’d love to see incredible young artists like Lola Young rise up the ranks and headline it.”
Not only did this year’s opening edition of the festival see performances from huge names across the world of rock, punk and rap, it also saw Yungblud implement a pricing strategy that made the event more affordable for fans.
Unlike most other, more established festivals, Bludfest 2024 saw tickets start at just £49.50, making a conscious effort to make live music more affordable for fans. Yungblud spoke to NME about his big plans for Bludfest shortly after the festival was announced, and explained how the pricing structure was done with the hopes of building a “community” between fans.
“I had the idea to do it last November. I just had fucking insomnia one night and thought, ‘What’s the next thing we can do that is really a staple and just pushes the boundaries?’” he recalled. “I’m going to do this every year and I hope everyone comes from everywhere. That’s why we’ve kept the ticket prices as low as we can.”
He continued: “It’s about £50 for 10 or more bands, all in. That is it; we’re not even making money – we’re just doing it for the fucking tunes. I’m excited. It’s all about saying ‘thank you for this moment’. I’ve had so many arguments about the price-point but that’s it.”
During his set at the event, Yungblud caught fans off guard by bringing out Lil Yachty as a surprise guest and performing their joint track ‘When We Die (Can We Still Get High?)’. The song marked Harrison’s first single of 2024, and had been in the works with the rapper since 2019.
Similarly, since announcing Bludfest, Yungblud defended the event from critics who have questioned the intent behind it as well as its “overall authenticity”. “Music belongs to the people,” he said. “That’s the way it should be.”
While no details about Bludfest 2025 have been announced at time of writing, if Yungblud were to lock in The Cure and Bring Me The Horizon as headliners, it would come amid a huge year for them both.
Robert Smith and co. have been preparing for the release of ‘Songs Of A Lost World’ in recent weeks. It’ll be their first album in 16 years, following on from 2008’s ‘4:13 Dream’, and has already been previewed by the lead single ‘Alone’.
As for Bring Me The Horizon, the band dropped their latest studio album ‘POST HUMAN: NeX GEn’ in May, and have been embarking on a huge number of festival appearances across this summer. Just last week, it was reported that the Sheffield rockers had surpassed one billion streams in the UK, and earlier in the year, they took home their first-ever BRIT Award in the Best Rock/Alternative Act category.
As for other Yungblud news, the singer recently teased that his next album will be released in early 2025. The new update came after he revealed to NME earlier this year that it would be a Britpop-inspired concept album.
“This next album is something I’ve been working on for two years and it’s a fucking adventure. It’s a full concept that you can play from start to finish,” he said. “It’s all about getting through it; it’s positive. It’s that thing in your stomach when you listen to Oasis, or The Verve, or Bowie, or Suede, or Madonna. It makes me feel like I can get up today. It makes me feel like I’m invincible and that I can do anything – that’s what this new album sounds like.”
