The iconic city festival returns to Central Harbourfront on 3-5 March 2023
Clockenflap, Hong Kong’s biggest international outdoor music and arts festival, today revealed the full lineup of acts slated to perform at Central Harbourfront from Friday 3 to Sunday 5 March 2023.
Among the new wave of names added to the bill are US hip-hop legends Wu-Tang Clan, Swedish indie-pop superstars The Cardigans, British rockers Bombay Bicycle Club, acclaimed US singer-songwriter Sasha Alex Sloan, critically adored British alt-rock genre-hoppers Black Country, New Road, Japanese dance-pop dynamos CHAI and local Canto-rock heroes KOLOR, bringing the total number of acts performing across the three days to more than 100.
The much-loved event, which returns to the city for the first time since November 2018, will feature the same full, world-class festival experience that has wowed fans in previous years: a spectacular outdoor environment featuring multiple stages; an eclectic array of top F&B outlets; and a wide-ranging lineup of must-see international, regional and local acts. As before, it will also be a free-standing event, with festivalgoers able to move easily and without restriction between the various stages and attractions throughout the weekend.
Lineup highlights:
World-class Acts
Clockenflap is known for bringing the world’s finest acts to the city, and this year is no different, with three exclusive HK-only performances just added. US Hip-hop legends Wu-Tang Clan (SUN) will be jetting in to play Hong Kong for the first time, while the band behind global smashes such as Lovefool, Erase/Rewind and My Favourite Game, The Cardigans (Sat) will finally make their long-awaited Hong Kong debut. And London-based indie-rock innovators Bombay Bicycle Club (Sun) make their triumphant return to Clockenflap 12 years after headlining the festival in 2011 and ahead of their new album. All three acts are coming to Asia to play Clockenflap exclusively. They join British rock icons Arctic Monkeys (Fri), French synth-rockers Phoenix (Fri), Norwegian folk-pop duo Kings of Convenience (Sat) and the German electronic supergroup Moderat (Sun).
Local Leading Lights
Flying the flag for Hong Kong, Clockenflap welcomes a dazzling array of local acts that blur the boundaries between the underground and the mainstream, from Canto-rock giants KOLOR (Sat) and poetic pop duo per se (Sat) to indie-pop five-piece The Hertz (Sun). They join local rap trailblazer Tyson Yoshi (Sat) and COLLAR x RubberBand (Sat), who will perform together in a one-of-a-kind collaboration.
Hong Kong Indie Heroes
Showcasing the depth and breadth of the local indie scene, the festival welcomes veteran post-hardcore survivors The Lovesong (Sun), Britpop-channelling Canto-rockers Charming Way (Sun), as well as previously announced Hong Kong hip-hop don YoungQueenz (Fri), alt-rockers Arches (Sun) and breakout rock act 南洋派對 N.Y.P.D. (Sat).
Young Guns
Getting in early on the hottest up-and-coming acts that capture the youth zeitgeist, Clockenflap has added red-hot American songstress Sasha Alex Sloan (Sat) to a lineup that includes French multi-instrumentalist FKJ (Sat), Canadian indie darlings Men I Trust (Fri), Thai indie-pop duo HYBS (Sat) and Cameron Lew’s soul project Ginger Root (Sat).
Musical Mavericks
Fans looking to broaden their musical horizons or discover something truly unique will be spoiled for choice at this year’s festival. Impossible to pigeonhole but never less than mesmerising, UK act Black Country, New Road (Sun) are sure to win legions of new followers with their eclectic sound, as will Japanese experimental rock masters MONO (Sun), innovative British jazz quintet Ezra Collective (Sun), South Korean hip-hop collective Balming Tiger (Sun) and South Korean alt-pop band Leenalchi (Sun).
Regional Top Picks
The best acts from around Asia are once again lighting up the Clockenflap lineup, with Japanese dance-pop favourites CHAI (Sat) the latest names to be added, joining Japanese chanteuse milet (Sun), Thai favourites Three Man Down (Sun), Japanese indie-rockers Hitsujibungaku (Sat) and South Korean indie boy band Silica Gel (Sat).
Taiwanese Trailblazers
Tapping into Taiwan’s buzzing music scene, Clockenflap welcomes the multi-talented singer-songwriter YELLOW 黃宣 (Fri) and hotly-tipped R&B chanteuse Julia Wu 吳卓源 (Sun) to the bill, alongside five-piece folk rock band 老王樂隊 (Your Woman Sleep with Others) (Sun) and acclaimed singer-songwriter LÜCY (Sat).
Arts
Clockenflap is about much more than music, and the festival’s arts programme serves up a spectacular selection of Instagrammable attractions and audiovisual adventures. Open call winner Pause.Record.Play gives everyone a chance to jam together using a collection of special sound effects; Videotage curates a visually astonishing journey into artists’ mental imagery of local cityscapes; Relentless Melt presents a special selection of abstract and psychedelic films; Memorabilia Mobile invites audience members to become a model, with Clockenflap as the backdrop; while street art by Caratoes and Parents Parents plus the ever-popular, otherworldly Birdmen will provide photo ops galore.
Family Area
As in previous years, families and children of all ages are well catered for at the festival, from puppet-based performances at Treasure Chest Theatre, to showing off their passion for percussion at the Drum Jam, to soothing sonic explorations with I is One.
Tickets, priced at HK$1,620 for a three-day pass, or HK$1,080 for single days, are available now from www.clockenflap.com/tickets
All retained and non-refunded tickets purchased for previous years have been updated for this year’s event and will be valid for entry on arrival at the event. You will find your ticket(s) in the “My Tickets” page of your Ticketflap account when you log in. The old festival ticket(s) are not valid so be sure to log in to Ticketflap and download the newly issued ticket(s).
If you require any assistance with recovering your updated ticket(s), please email contact@ticketflap.com
To keep up to date with the latest announcements and accompanying materials—including interviews, images and video content—and to apply for artist interview slots and accreditation to report at the event, media are encouraged to register now for Clockenflap’s online press room clockenflap.com/press. Media who have registered for an account previously can log in using their existing username and password.
