Every summer near the Danish town of Roskilde, a peaceful plain transforms into a sprawling pop-up city of music, art and community. Over eight days, around 130,000 people converge – a volunteer-powered metropolis of 100,000 ticket-holders and 30,000 helpers – turning this small town into one of Denmark’s largest cities for a week. The festival’s ethos is summed up in the “Orange Feeling”: a spirit of openness, freedom and shared respect that runs through every campfire and stage. From recycled-tent fashion workshops to floating spoken-word sessions in the woods, Roskilde Festival feels less like a commercial event and more like a living cultural project.
Making a welcome return after their 2022 set, Africa Express will hit the Roskilde stage with material from their upcoming album Africa Express Presents… Bahidorá, out 11 July. Recorded in Mexico with a cross-continental cast, the performance promises the same vivid, collaborative energy captured on record. Expect cumbia, reggaetón, folk and rap, with voices including Moonchild Sanelly, Joan As Police Woman, Mare Advertencia, M.anifest, Hak Baker, Django Django, Seye Adelekan, Remi Kabaka, the Mexican Institute of Sound – and of course, Damon Albarn himself.
Arushi Jain makes her Roskilde debut with a set that blends Indian classical traditions with modular synthesis. Her breathy, layered vocals glide through ambient soundscapes built from patch cables and analogue textures, delivering a transportive, meditative experience unlike anything else at the festival.
Back for the first time since 2016, Kwashibu Area Band – led by Kwame Yeboah and Ben Abarbanel-Wolff – return with music from their new album Love Warrior’s Anthem. Their blend of brass-driven highlife, disco bounce and Ghanaian groove is infectious. With Charles Amoah on drums and K.O.G. of Onipa on vocals, they channel highlife’s joyous legacy with sharp musicianship and energy to spare.
Late-night energy comes courtesy of Ngwaka Son Systéme. Founded by Love Lokombe and Bom’s Bomolo of KOKOKO!, the Congolese group crafts dancefloor detonations from scrap-metal instruments. Their DIY rig of pipes, wires and salvaged junk delivers raw, kinetic sets full of soukous riffs, rumba swing and deep dub-techno pulses. They’ll take the Gaia stage by storm—and also appear unannounced around the festival grounds, turning quiet corners into spontaneous dance rituals.
For anyone drawn to music’s connective power, Roskilde Festival is a summer pilgrimage. Flags of many nations fly above the campsites, and a tambourine in the right hands can draw as much attention as a headliner. Whether you’re pulled in by Africa Express’s global jam session, Arushi Jain’s hypnotic synths or Ngwaka’s scrap-built rhythms, this is your call to embrace the Orange Feeling.
Full festival passes, two-day options and single-day tickets are available HERE
Photo ©: Flemming Bo Jensen