Jupiter Rising 2020: first artists announced

Born out of the success of both 2017’s Lunarnova Campout and 2018’s ROMANTI-CRASH, 2019 saw the launch of the Jupiter Artland Foundation-led Jupiter Rising. The festival returns in 2020 for its second official outing, and the first wave of announcements has us longing for the end of the August before we can even smell spring.

Auntie Flo, Free Love, Lost Map

Taking place from 29-30 August, among the first acts for this year’s festival is the 2019 Scottish Album of the Year Award-winning Brian D’Souza, aka Auntie Flo, whose Radio Highlife record saw him pip the likes of Kathryn Joseph and C Duncan to the top spot, and was the first electronic record to win the coveted prize. D’Souza will be bringing his world music-influenced brand of electronica to the stunning surrounds of Jupiter Artland’s contemporary sculpture park and arts complex on the edge of Edinburgh.

He's joined by husband and wife duo Free Love. Suzi and Lewis Rodden – who featured on the cover of our November issue, and headline our Pyramid Stage takeover at Kelburn Garden Party this July – are themselves no strangers to the SAY Award, having been shortlisted for the 2019 award for their exquisite Luxury Hits record, with two previous nominations under their old name of Happy Meals.

And you’ll have the opportunity to witness not one, but two unique sets from Free Love as they’re set to perform on two of Jupiter Rising’s partner stages, hosted by Glasgow’s Night School Records and Eigg’s Lost Map, with more to be announced soon from the Scottish labels.

2020’s Jupiter Rising will also see the return of Glasgow’s OH141, rounding out the stage partners list. As well as hosting the late night dance stage led by Sarra Wild, OH141 will be launching the first Rising Residency, a funded opportunity for Scottish-based artists who identify as womxn, POC, LGBTQ+ to stay at Jupiter Artland in April and develop new work for the August festival.

David Thomas Broughton, SHHE & more

While a lot of the music programme is still under wraps, confirmed names joining Auntie Flo and Free Love include the Neu Grafik Ensemble – led by French producer, instrumentalist and DJ Neu Grafik – and the Richard Dawson and Rhodri Davies-founded project Hen Ogledd. Also on the bill are surreal avant-folk performer David Thomas Broughton, South African cellist Abel Selaocoe, lo-fi folk musician Rachael Dadd, Brighton-based Bella Union four-piece Penelope Isles, Glasgow’s immensely talented multi-instrumentalist Kapil Seshasayee and Dundee-based Scottish/Portuguese artist and producer SHHE, whose self-titled debut album was released last year via the Björk-affiliated One Little Indian label.

Elsewhere, Jupiter Rising's cinema programme includes screenings by internationally renowned artist Linder Sterling and iconoclastic video artist Pipilotti Rist. In Jupiter Artland's galleries, Tracey Emin's exhibition I Lay Here For You will offer an intimate encounter with love, loss and longing featuring new paintings, drawings and sculpture, while across the rest of the site, international and Scottish artists will present modern-day reinventions of installations by Allan Kaprow.

The Glasgow Zine Library, Communal Leisure, Edwina Ashton and Sam Hasler will also contribute to Jupiter Rising for 2020, and last year's attendees will be thrilled to hear that Joana Vasconcelos' brilliantly colourful swimming pool is set to reopen.

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Jupiter Rising takes place at Jupiter Artland, Wikieston, Edinburgh, 29-30 Aug; tickets are now on sale at jupiterrising.art