It’s a festival without headliners, where zero precedences will be given to those with the most clout. These four days will all about the underdog, the opening acts, the underground sounds, the talented people making noise in their genres.

It’s refreshing, it’s innovative, it’s new, and it’s so Boiler Room. For almost 10 years, Boiler Room has been giving the stage to unbelievable talent and live streaming to audiences of over 400,000 per show. What began in London in 2010, has since expanded to over 100 countries worldwide.

Boiler Room Beginnings

With humble beginnings, Boiler Room started with a webcam, a little duct tape, and streaming site Ustream. The first-ever session was broadcast in 2010 when founder Blaise Bellville invited Tris Tian and Femi Adeyemi over to record a mixtape for his online magazine, Platform. This one-off session became a weekly event, gaining notoriety from the BBC, Fader, and Time Out. In its first year, Boiler Room hosted the likes of Jamie XX, SUBTRKT, James Blake, Thom Yorke, and Caribou.

It has since been known to push musical boundaries, not stick to a specific genre, and make space for up and coming artists to share the same spotlight as big, more household names. While London’s underground electronic music was Boiler Room’s early focus, hip-hop, classical, jazz, experimental, and world music artists have all been welcomed.

Boiler Room Festival

Taking place in multiple venues around Peckham in South London, Boiler Room Festival will run for four days, October 9th through 12th, with a capacity of 20,000. The entire event will be live-streamed on Boiler Room’s platforms, opening up the number of festivalgoers immensely.

Each day of the four-day event will host a different genre. October 9th will see jazz musicians, October 10th – rap, October 11th will be bass (jungle, dubstep, UK garage, and dancehall), and the final day, October 12th, will feature club sounds (house and techno).

No flashy production, no heavyweight hitters, Boiler Room festival is sticking to its roots of raw and unedited musical sets. Boiler Room wants to introduce its audience, old and new, to the underground music movements by letting them experience them live and in person. Challenging the traditional festival format, Boiler Room festival will be about intimacy.

The Lineup

While the concept of no headliners is being stressed, you aren’t going to walk in and not recognize anyone. You’ll know some and meet others, but no names will be put above another.

On the 9th, jazz will fill the air. Jazz DJs including Bradley Zero and Swindle will get festivalgoers jiving and grooving on the dancefloor. Multi-instrumental artist collective Steam Down and vocalist Greentea Peng are a few of the live acts taking the stage.

October 10th shifts the vibe to feature the underground rap scene of London. Household names include D Double E and Neptizzle. Biig Piig joins the lineup as one of those much talked about artists making a splash.

Friday the 11th will focus on bass, meshing jungle, dubstep, UK funky, and dancehall. The UK bleeds bass, so expect some pretty eclectic sets from homegrown artists like Aba Shanti-I, Slimzee, and Sicaria Sound.

The final day, October 12th will move towards club sounds. House and techno artists will bring up the BPMs and close out the festival. Names include Sherelle, Cashu, Room 4 Resistance, and Blawan.

The final day, October 12th will move towards club sounds. House and techno artists will bring up the BPMs and close out the festival. Names include Sherelle, Cashu, Room 4 Resistance, and Blawan.