Festival organisers have unveiled the first 16 names for next year’s Roskilde Festival, including afrobeats-star BURNA BOY, pop hero CHRISTINE AND THE QUEENS presents Redcar, and Japanese-British queer-pop artist RINA SAWAYAMA.

It’s at Roskilde Festival you can experience music that you would not normally find at large festivals, side by side with the world’s biggest names in pop.

Today’s announcement is no exception, and we get well around the continents, too. The first 16 music acts on the 2023 poster deliver huge pop hits, musical experiments and strong messages that reach far beyond the edge of the stage.

What they all have in common is that they set a direction for the future.

Headlining the poster, you will find Nigerian superstar BURNA BOY, who has brought afrobeats to remote corners and entirely new audiences thanks to hits like “Last Last” and “On the Low”. He will be throwing a late-night party at the Orange Stage, when he visits our festival for the very first time.

Also, organisers are thrilled to present Ghanaian gospel explosion FLORENCE ADOONI, who is performing for the first time outside her home country, and the alternative Korean pop group LEENALCHI, which is  also putting on its first Danish show at Roskilde Festival.

The 2023 edition offers a reunion with the French pop hero CHRISTINE AND THE QUEENS, who will introduce his new alias, Redcar. In 2019, he gave an unforgettable concert at the Arena Stage, and when he returns this summer, he is ready to take the iconic Orange Stage with a tightly choreographed show.

You can also look forward to a display of intelligent queer-pop from Japanese-British RINA SAWAYAMA, who already at this summer’s festival put reviewers and audiences at her feet with pumping beats and grandiose choruses with a shot of flamboyant guitar hooks.

And it will certainly be energetic, physical and heart-felt when the Florida rapper DENZEL CURRY demonstrates his superior vocal technique with songs spanning the struggle for civil rights in America and confrontations with his own inner demons.

Roskilde Festival must be synonymous with curiosity and diversity. Whether it comes down to cultural activism or musical adventurousness, the artists in today’s announcement set a course for the future. It’s essential for us as a festival to emphasise that art can play a part in showing us the way forward

Anders Wahrén, Roskilde Festival’s Head of Programme