Marking its debut edition, LIDO festival is quickly making a name for itself as one of London’s most distinctive additions to the summer festival circuit, eschewing bombast for nuance, and mass appeal for curatorial clarity. Nestled within the expansive greenery of Victoria Park, this multi-stage, single-day festival favours a stripped-back approach with no sprawling branding or towering stage productions to speak of—instead it puts its energy into atmosphere, an interplay of tactile architecture, refined programming and sonic adventurousness that resonates with both seasoned heads and curious newcomers. Each day of LIDO festival is handed to a different curator or collective, with Saturday’s line-up helmed by Jamie xx.
Renowned for his ability to bridge club culture with broader musical experimentation, Jamie xx served up a day that mirrored his own eclectic sensibilities. Across a finely tuned lineup—featuring sets from the likes of Arca, Villager, John Glacier, Todd Edwards B2B Bullet Tooth, Dj Gigola, Shy FX B2B Tim Reaper, Sampha and DJ Harvey, as well as three sets from Jamie xx himself—including two separate B2B’s with Skrillex and Nia Archives—the programming moved between high-energy, emotionally charged and left-field moments with intention and control. Albeit being wet for large parts of the day, the festival succeeded in creating something cohesive, dynamic and musically wide-reaching.
Kickstarting the afternoon was a highly-anticipated B2B set between Jamie xx and Skrillex over at the main stage. However, the pair took fans by surprise. Rather than taking to the actual stage, located to the East of the site, they popped up within the lighting technician’s box in the middle of the fan area. Exchanging heater for heater, the hour-long set delivered a dynamic collision of styles that felt both seamless and surprising. With Jamie’s textures, rhythmic sensibility meeting the American superstar’s high-impact, genre-bending energy, the set carved out a rare space where nuance met intensity. Moving seamlessly between broken beats, UK garage, dubstep and left-field pop edits, the pair kept the crowd in a state of collective anticipation. It was a cross-pollination of worlds that reflected both artists at their sharpest—innovative, versatile and in full command of the moment.
Straight after, Hackney-born singer John Glacier graced the stage directly behind. Draped in a haze of lo-fi beats and poetic fragments, Glacier drifted through her performance that blended rap, spoken word and minimalist sound design. From the ethereal sound patterns of “Emotions” to the guitar backed “Home”, both of which featured on her recently acclaimed album Like A Ribbon, Glacier’s sounds pierced the sound sphere alongside her undeniably magnetic delivery. A set that demanded attention, feeling at times like eavesdropping on a dream.
Later in the afternoon, it was the turn of GRAMMY-winning multi-hyphenate Sampha, who turned dusk into an intimate confessional, delivering a masterfully restrained performance that served as a poignant counterpoint to the festival’s more high-octane acts. His set unfolded with quiet intensity, blending sparse piano arrangements, subtle electronic textures and his unmistakable falsetto. Tracks like “Spirit 2.0” and “No One Knows Me) Like The Piano” were reinterpreted with minimalism and emotional clarity, drawing the audience into a shared moment of introspection.
Sticking at the main stage, Arca swiftly took the twilight slot and blew the entire day wide open. From confrontational industrialism to moments of aching beauty, she conjured a deeply visceral experience. There were ruptures in sound—scrapes, screams, glitchy collisions—but also passages of quiet and softness that resonated just as deeply. It was as physical as it was cerebral. Not merely a DJ set, but performance art—transfixing, divisive, unforgettable.
Elsewhere, the second stage, located in a towering tent was packed throughout the day. Not just because of the rain, but also thanks to the strength of it line-up. Early acts included rapid-rising DJ-producer Villager, whose set carved out a moment of sonic pastoralism—caked in filtered breaks and heavy bass—as well as a special B2B between D&B and jungle legend Shy FX and prodigy Tim Reaper who took it in turns to trade blows.
Later, it was the turn of Nia Archives to go B2B with festival curator Jamie xx. Proving to be the axis of the day, a moment of pure joy, Nia’s upfront, clean jungle collided with Jamie’s skeletal riddims in a way that felt like watching friends joyride through a record collection. The basslines were big, the smiles were bigger. It was rave history rewritten in real-time—warm, fast and deeply felt. DJ Gigola followed with a set that played with tension and release like choreography. Her set pulsed with dry, bone-rattling techno and giddy drops of baile funk and gabber-adjacent mutations. Equal parts clinical and unhinged, it was the sonic equivalent of tilting your head back into the sun and letting the chaos wash over you.
Jamie xx’s solo closing set was a masterclass in pacing, beauty and control. Eschewing fireworks for feeling, he played like someone who truly understands how to hold a space—layering ghostly melodies, elastic drum loops and rare dubs like pieces in a mosaic.
Special mentions must go to the likes of Stresshead, fresh from his latest single “What (Need)” via AMF Records, who kickstarted the day with a 90 minute set over on stage three, jolting the crowd into motion with fractured palette of percussion, breakbeats and lurching basslines. On the same stage, DJ Harvey served up a three-hour extravaganza, weaving together disco, house and garage with his trademark slow-burning intensity.
What sets LIDO apart is not just its curation, but its composure. It doesn’t strive to be maximalist or trend-driven. Instead, it aims for depth—across genres, across performances, and across its physical spaces. The staging is minimal but thoughtful. The crowd is diverse and deeply engaged. Even the scheduling feels elegant, with each act granted room to build, develop, and resolve. In a capital city bursting with events, LIDO doesn’t compete on size or scale—it simply offers something few others do: space to listen, feel, and explore. Jamie xx’s day at the festival reinforced that mission, balancing experimentation with accessibility, restraint with emotional payoff. It wasn’t just a showcase—it was a narrative, mapped carefully across time and terrain.
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