Fortress Festival Announces 2020 Lineup

Article Contributed by Giant Noise | Published on Saturday, January 18, 2020

Fortress Festival is proud to unveil the full music lineup for the fourth annual music festival, which is set to return to Fort Worth’s iconic Cultural District on Saturday and Sunday, April 25-26 after a successful sold-out weekend event last spring. Weekend GA and VIP passes are available now for purchase at fortressfestival.com.

In partnership with the internationally acclaimed Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Fortress Festival will again offer music lovers from North Texas and across the country a boutique multi-genre festival experience celebrating acclaimed music acts and international art. This year’s festival will offer festival-goers its most diverse lineup yet, including several Hispanic artists of international fame in its tradition of offering a variety of today’s most sought-after music acts.

Grammy Award-winning DJ and record producer Diplo will help to headline this year’s event. In the past year alone, the perennial chart-topping producer released his own four-track EP, Higher Ground, as well as a special collaborative project with Labrinth and Sia, LSD, in addition to receiving the 2019 Grammy Award for “Best Electronic Dance Recording” for his work with Mark Ronson—all while he continues to prepare for the upcoming release of Major Lazer’s fifth and reportedly final album, along with a new solo album and highly anticipated follow-up project with Jack U-collaborator Skrillex.

Fortress Festival will also welcome a variety of acts with strong ties to Latin America, including 2020 headliners, like R&B singer/songwriter Miguel, who will perform in support of his latest projects, including his first-ever Spanish-language EP, Te Lo Dije, which was released last April, and War & Leisure, which was nominated for “Best Urban Contemporary Album” at the 2019 Grammy Awards; and singer-songwriter Cuco, who just released his critically-acclaimed debut album, Para Mi, this past July, further solidifying him as one of today's top up-and-coming national performers.

Other notable worldly and Latin-influenced artists in this year’s lineup include Mexican-American rapper Snow Tha Product, who has strong ties to Fort Worth having lived in the city for several years; and Combo Chimbita, a quartet of first-generation, New York-based musicians with Colombian ties who just released their sophomore project, Ahomale, this past May, featuring their unique blend of psychedelic and futuristic sounds with funk and soul.

Additional notable performers set to take the main stages include Mississippi-native and critically-acclaimed emcee Big K.R.I.T., who released his latest studio album, K.R.I.T. IZ HERE, this past summer; Dallas’s own rising star, 18-year-old Kaash Paige, who recently signed to the iconic Def Jam record label and released a new EP, Parked Car Convos, which fuses elements of trap and R&B; celebrated singer-songwriter Sharon Van Etten, who released her fifth studio album, Remind Me Tomorrow, last January; London-based trio Kero Kero Bonito, who look to offer festival-goers their unique indie rock sound that also features singing and rapping in both Japanese and English; R&B/soul outfit The Free Nationals, who might be best known for their work alongside Anderson .Paak and just released their long-awaited debut self-titled album this December to rave reviews from fans and critics alike, and Brooklyn-based indie-pop band Wet.

Similar to years past, the festival will also be playing host to a variety of acts from the greater Dallas/Fort Worth area to help showcase North Texas’ incredible and diverse musical talents. Notable D/FW performers include post-punk band Rosegarden Funeral Party; electro-pop duo Prizm; singer/song Tippy Balady; indie-pop singer Remy Reilly; high-energy jazz fusion group Kwinton Gray Project; and Son of Stan, a pop-rock project from Jordan Richardson, who won a Grammy Award for his previous work with Ben Harper’s Relentless7. Plus, there is a healthy mix of top local rappers set to perform, including Rakim Al-Jabbaar (Dallas), who just released his last album, Underground God, this past fall; Renizance (Ft. Worth), best known as the founder of the underground rap collective Immortal Soldierz; and the oft-labeled “godfather of Fort Worth hip-hop,” Smoothvega (Ft. Worth).

FORTRESS FESTIVAL 2020 - FULL MUSIC LINEUP:

Diplo

Miguel

Cuco

Big K.R.I.T.

Snow Tha Product

Sharon Van Etten

Kaash Paige

Kero Kero Bonito

The Free Nationals

Wet

Combo Chimbita

Rakim Al-Jabbaar

Renizance

Rosegarden Funeral Party

PRIZM

Smoothvega

Tippy Balady

Remy Reilly

Kwinton Gray Project

Son of Stan

Similar to the past two years, the festival will take place in the highly renowned Cultural District of Fort Worth - home to some of the most lauded art museums in the country, including Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth and Kimbell Art Museum - and will be entirely housed within the spacious outdoor lawn adjacent to the historic Will Rogers Coliseum. The festival will again feature two outdoor main stages with non-overlapping sets to ensure fans are able to catch every minute of each performance.

Two-day GA tickets are on sale now for the Early Bird price of just $89 at fortressfestival.com. Two-day VIP passes are also available for purchase online for $209, offering ticket-buyers an elevated festival-going experience. VIP perks include exclusive events, preferred viewing areas, free parking, expedited entry, exclusive food and drink offerings, dedicated lounges and restroom facilities, discounts on Modern merchandise, memberships, and programs, and additional VIP-only amenities. 

New this year is the Platinum VIP ticket, which is available for $399 with this Early Bird pricing. Platinum includes all of the amenities of VIP, plus exclusive access to a riser next to the main stage for the most intimate view of the performances as well as an exclusive lounge area with food and drink offerings.

Continuing the tradition from past years, both GA and VIP festival passes offer FREE access to the Modern’s galleries during the festival, including exclusive late-night access. Additional details surrounding expanded programming and collaborative offerings from the Festival and Museum will be announced in the coming weeks.

Fortress Festival continues to be independently produced by Fortress Presents, a Fort Worth-based independent production and promotions company founded in 2016 by North Texas natives Alec Jhangiani and Ramtin Nikzad. Beyond the flagship festival, the Fortress Presents team includes a diverse portfolio of branded events along with event production and marketing services.

Fortress Festival would like to thank their 2020 partners who have helped make this fourth annual event possible, including presenting partner The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, as well as sponsors Crown Royal, Smirnoff, Trinity Metro, Mike’s Hard Lemonade, Higginbotham, Fort Worth Promotion and Development Fund, Visit Fort Worth, Tiki Biosciences, Omni Hotels & Resorts, and The Bomb Factory.

This will mark the fourth annual Fortress Festival, which cumulatively has played host to over 35,000 total attendees since its inaugural festival. Since inception, Fortress Festival has welcomed to its stages a variety of high-caliber music talent from Texas and around the globe, with previous acts including Leon Bridges, Father John Misty, Run The Jewels, CHVRCHES, Rae Sremmurd, Courtney Barnett, Purity Ring, Flying Lotus, De La Soul, RZA, Slowdive, The Voidz, Tinashe, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats, Peter Hook & The Light, tUnE-yArDs, and many others.

Stay tuned as additional festival details will be announced in the coming months, including the daily lineup, single-day tickets, and the full performance schedule. For more information, please visit fortressfestival.com. Be sure to follow Fortress Fest on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/FortressFestivalTX, as well as on Instagram and Twitter at @FortressFest for updates and special promotions. The Festival’s official hashtag is #FortressFestival2020.

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