Block9 to return to Glastonbury with Genosys and first-ever Downlow Day Party

Glastonbury 2024 is nearly upon us. And as well as sure-to-be killer sets from the likes of Dua Lipa, Romy, and Shania Twain, we’re of course looking forward to the return of Block9 – the biggest and baddest after-hours party at Worthy Farm.

Spread across two fields affectionately named Block9 East and West visitors will be able to explore the legendary venues NYC Downlow, The Meat Rack, and IICON.

Here’s all you need to know about what you can find at this year’s wonderland of huge art installations, underground music, and alternative performance.

Genosys

Making a grand return after a five-year hiatus, Genosys will take centre stage in Block9 West. This towering construction of concrete and glass was created to explore the birth of analogue electronic music and its lasting legacy.

Among the highlights will be a set on Friday 28 June from Honey Dijon, while the polymath academic, DJ, and queer icon, Madison Moore will make his Glastonbury debut on Saturday. He will appear alongside London vocalist and producer Eliza Rose, as well as Berlin’s unstoppable rising star, Bashkka.

Genosys will also pay homage to the vital role of music as a form of political protest on Sunday 30 June. It will also celebrate the 35^th Anniversary of the legendary Nottingham Sound System, DiY. OK Williams, Adonis resident Hannah Holland, A Guy Called Gerald and Felix Dickinson will also join.

“Genosys was last at Block9 in 2019 so lots of people will never have experienced it before,” Block9 founders Gideon Berger and Stephen Gallagher said. “We have spent the last year rebuilding it ready for its triumphant return and have some amazing artists coming to join the party.”

IICON

Over in Block9 East, IICON, the immersive audio-visual arena taking the form of a colossal, anonymised head, will take over. This immense sculptural artwork is animated by state-of-the-art video mapping and delivers a vision of future music from the cutting edge of today’s underground.

On Thursday visitors can enjoy Carista’s adrenaline-fuelled techno energy with Blawan. Meanwhile, BICEP presents CHROMA (AV DJ set), plus LA-based, UK garage sorcerer Introspekt and BBC Essential Mix OG DJ Python take to the stage on Friday. On Saturday, Charisse C will perform while Tim Reaper, Drum ‘n’ Bass originators Roni Size and Goldie, plus Block9 veteran DJ Flight will do so on Sunday.

IICON: AV-3D will be there every night of the festival. An audio/visual translation of Olivier Messiaen’s masterpiece Quartet for The End of Time created in a Prisoner of War camp during WWII. The themes of this work will provide inspiration for this immersive examination of life lived in the digital panopticon.

NYC Downlow

This multi-roomed temporary club space housed inside a life-size film set replica of a seedy New York bathhouse-cum-meatpacking warehouse circa 1982 is a staple of Block9. But new for 2024 is the Saturday daytime Downlow Day Party. This will be headlined by François K, one of the most revered names in the history of dance music. He will also be joined by Sean McCabe as well as Downlow veterans Dungeon Meat. K.O.T. (Sandy Rivera aka Kings Of Tomorrow), Jeff Mendoza (Soul Summit), and Henry Street’s DJ Spen will also perform on Saturday.

Bress Underground will kick things off on Thursday along with Nat Wendell and The Carry Nation. Makadsi, The House of Xtravaganza’s blazing talent Rush Davis, plus UK garage rude-boys Matt Jam Lamont b2b Scott Diaz, and Berlin’s Tama Sumo & Lakuti will all perform as well. The Bulgarian New Yorker Ivo Dimchev and Grace Sands will also offer live perfomances alongside some very special guests.

And it doesn’t end there. Jonny Woo’s resident drag troupe Maude Adams & All Those Children will perform throughout the Glastonbury weekend with ‘Querdos from Outer Space’, ‘Leather & Lace’, ‘Showgirls & Sailors’ and a very special ‘Wedding Surprise’.

Guests can also expect a fetish party on Thursday night, and scandalous behaviour in every darkened corner. There’ll be some good behaviour on show too, with money raised going towards MAP (Medical Aid For Palestinians) and more.

Hidden at the back of the NYC Downlow you will find a new doubled in size Meat Rack featuring acts such as Wallace, Peach, and Subb-An. Block9 is also continuing its annual collaboration with London-based HIV prevention activists PrEPster.

Block9 x Katherine Hamnett

Finally, Block9 has partnered with Katherine Hamnett to get people voting ahead of elections this year. You won’t miss her trademark, power-packed slogans, and instantly recognisable graphic style.

Hamnett said: “Our vote is our most powerful tool to get the world we want, and every vote is crucial. But democracy is under threat. Voter suppression is rife – even in the UK. Elections have been won by one vote: Thomas Jefferson in 1800 was elected president of the United States by one vote. Register to Vote NOW!  Use it or lose it!”