Stormzy at All Points East 2023: ‘We’ve been trying to get him to play for a long time’ say organisers

Stormzy will be the first headliner of this year’s All Points East as his curated This Is What We Mean Day takes over Victoria Park. While the rapper is set to kick off the 2023 run of the music festival, he’s been on the organisers’ dream list for the event for some time.

The music festivities first took over Victoria Park in 2018. Five years on some of music’s biggest names, including Gorillaz, Dizzie Rascal and Björk have all performed as part of the event.

This year’s headline acts include Jungle, Dermot Kennedy and Haim. Stormzy is set to make his All Points East debut as the Croydon artist performs to 50,000 fans in his home city.

However, it won’t be the Vossi Bop hitmaker’s first festival appearance in the capital. He’s previously performed at other London-based festivals, including Wireless and Lovebox.

While the rapper is set to helm his own day at All Points East this evening (August 18), the music festival’s organisers have admitted they’ve wanted to add Stormzy to their lineup for a "long time."

AEG’s European festivals CEO Jim King told LondonWorld: "We’ve been trying to get him to play for a long time, and we were super thrilled when he said he would come here. We were really happy that he agreed to come play. He could have played anywhere. I think that’s certainly a high for us."

Looking forward to Stormzy’s Friday show, King added: "I mean, he’s obviously a fantastic performer anyway. But I think tomorrow there is going to be a fantastic great new energy that he will bring to the festival for it to start off. So that’s going to be a great highlight."

Stormzy’s This Is What We Mean Day is set to be filled with performances from an array of up and coming artists, including both Tamera and Kehlani. The bill also features Stormzy collaborator Debbie who also co-wrote on Stormzy’s latest album.

Ahead of her Friday set as part of Stormzy’s headline day, where she will perform to around 50,000 fans, Debbie gushed to LondonWorld about how the rapper’s "calm and peaceful energy" has helped put any nerves she had at ease.

She explained: "I feel like anything to do with Stormzy is just calm and peaceful energy. So that means that I could never really be nervous if it’s got anything to do with Storms because he’s just such, like, a great energy to be around, and anything that he touches will have great energy."

As for whether she will join him on stage during Stormzy’s All Points East set, Debbie remained tight-lipped as she sheepishly quipped: "I’m not sure. I’m not too sure."