AVA announces day splits, opening event and afterparties for 2022 festival

AVA has announced the day splits, opening event and afterparties for this year’s flagship festival.

Taking place on 3rd and 4th June, this year’s edition will see the festival take over the Titanic Slipways in Belfast, close to its usual T13 base.

After previously revealing the headliners and a number of artists heading to Belfast this summer, AVA has now revealed the programming for the Friday and Saturday of the event, as well as an opening party and a number of afterparties. 

On Friday 3rd June, AVA favourites and NI natives Bicep will headline the festival, alongside Detroit duo Floorplan, Gemma Dunleavy, and live performances from Ross From Friends and 999999999. Elsewhere on Friday, Ayrshire’s Ewan McVicar will be joining the line-up, with Special Request, LSDXOXO, Kessler, Sally C and many more set to head to Titanic Slipways.

Moving into the Saturday, headline slots will be served courtesy of Mura Masa and Biig Piig, plus current DJ Mag cover stars Overmono, and Jon Hopkins, who’ll both perform live sets. They’ll be joined by Giant Swan and Soichi Terada — who will also perform live — TSHA, Crazy P, Skin on Skin and SHERELLE, as well as AVA regulars in the form of Jordan Nocturne, Caoimhe, Timmy Stewart, Twitch, Holly Lester and Swoose. 

AVA will also be hosting an Opening Event at industrial hangout Banana Block at Portview Trade Centre on Thursday 2nd June. From 5PM to 10PM, the session will feature talks from industry experts including Resident Advisor’s RA Exchange Live, a PRS For Musicians hosted chat followed by an instore at Sound Advice – a new record store in Belfast.

The AVA afterparties will take place across three venues: Banana Black at Portview Trade Centre, Thompson’s Garage & Ulster Sports Club on both Friday and Saturday night – followed by the annual closing party on Sunday 5th June at Thompsons. 

Day tickets for AVA will go on sale this Thursday 28th April at 10am. Hospitality tickets are also available, with a handful of weekend tickets also still on sale. Find out more here.

Last September, AVA festival returned to Belfast. Despite venue closures and ongoing restrictions across Northern Ireland, the event went ahead outdoors in a brand new location, welcoming 10,000 ravers back into the dance. DJ Mag went to Belfast to experience the comeback of the festival, and speak with the DJs who soundtracked its return.