Music

Preview: Slam Dunk Festival is back and promises to be alternative weekend of the year

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Featured image: Press


As we steadily approach full-throttle festival season, Slam Dunk Festival will be soon be making its annual return to Hatfield Park and Leeds Temple Newsam, bringing with it a line-up that is jam-packed with pop-punk and alternative artists that we all know and love. 

The much-loved festival has once again exceeded line-up expectations and set the bar high for other line-ups to follow. The Offspring are due to perform a headline performance on a hopefully sunny May bank holiday, and are anticipated to play some of their well-known ‘skate punk’ hits such as ‘The Kids Aren’t Alright’ and ‘You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid’. It is almost certain that their headline slot is going to make a night to be remembered. 

Co-headliners, Enter Shikari, are taking to the stages of Leeds and Hatfield and bringing with them their unique electronic hardcore style. Anybody who has seen them before know that Shikari are well worth checking out. If you haven’t – now’s your chance!

With 11 albums and a numerous amount of singles and EPs, four-piece Bowling For Soup play Slam Dunk throughout the weekend, performing some of their best hits, including ‘1985’ and ‘Girl All The Bad Guys Want’. 

If Slam Dunk have given us anything over the years, it’s artists performing album anniversaries and show-stopping reunions. This year is no different as Yellowcard have been announced to play their entire Ocean Avenue album in full, to celebrate the 20-year anniversary. For fans of American pop punk, this set may be what dreams are made of.

The highly anticipated Boston Manor and Wargasm make their return to the nationally known pop-punk weekender and will play their best hits in front of Slam Dunk’s high-energy festival-goers. They are bound to get the pits circling. 

If the heavier pop-punk and rock lifestyle is not right up your street, indie band The Hunna are making their Slam Dunk debut next summer. Playing songs from the brand new self-titled album, prepare yourselves to dance, sing and scream your way through their set as they put on a performance you will not forget. These festival legends have taken to the stage of Reading and Leeds Festival multiple times as well as others like TRNSMT and YNOT, and now they can finally add Slam Dunk to the list.

Horror-punk legends Creeper are back at Slam Dunk to play songs from their most recent album American Noir, as well as the classics that would get the inner emo within you screaming the words out. 

Last but most definitely not least, my personal favourites and slam-dunk returners, Holding Absence, make another appearance at the 2023 festival next year. This rock band from Cardiff are a band that have seen a huge increase in listeners, fans and moth tattoos in the past few years and this is to nobody’s surprise. Year after year they have been producing hits that will get crowds singing their heart’s out. They are most definitely not one to miss!

Slam Dunk Festival 2023 is promised to be the weekend of the year. With a line-up this impressive and still more to come, what more could you ask for? We hope to see you there!

Slam Dunk returns to Hatfield Park on Saturday 27th May and Leeds Temple Newsam on Sunday 28th May. Visit slamdunkfestival.com for tickets and more information.

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Rianna Ram

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