No matter how good the line-up is, the purchase of a Forbidden Fruit ticket is always loaded with worry, because the Irish June bank holiday is a tricky thing. This weekend marks the start of summer, meaning we should be able to relish the sunshine but when the rain pours down, as it is wont to do, we grumble that "we should have gone to Primavera instead". But this weekend, hopefully your grumbles can go away for another day, for this weekend we are being promised sunshine and temperatures up to 19 degrees. And just a little bit of drizzle on Monday – but we've suffered worse in the quest for a good time.
The three-day festival follows the reliable format of going hell for leather on Saturday and Sunday, with hip-hop and electronic music leading the charge, and then taking it exceptionally easy on Monday, for those who gravitate to gentler sounds. Saturday's gifts include Justice, who have been making you D.A.N.C.E. for more than 10 years, Detroit DJ Richard Hawtin, the gleefully noisy Glass Animals, a DJ set from Beastie Boys' Mike D, the energetic and riotous Mango & Mathman and none other than Idris bloomin' Elba from The Wire playing some tunes.
Sunday's service will get you sweating by just reading it. Or:La, Bonobo, Four Tet Live, Vince Staples and Floating Points will add extra unce to your step, while Earl Sweatshirt and Fehdah will slow your body down to an appreciative and very chilled-out sway. Monday's line-up is the indie lover's dream and it's the perfect way to handle the comedown from Saturday and Sunday's activities. Catering for a more mature – read: older and not much wiser – crowd, The War on Drugs, Grizzly Bear and Warpaint will tend to your emotions, while the bouncing indie rock of Spoon and the jazz and R&B maestro Thundercat will get you moving. And make sure you drop into the Bulmers Live Stage all weekend long to catch some of the best Irish acts. From the soul stylings of Lilla Vargen to the dark electronics waves of SYLK, there's a fine spread of genres and characters there to absorb.
On Saturday and Sunday night, the party will keep on going until 3am, with Forbidden Fruit Night events taking place in a number of venues across the city centre. When things wrap up in Kilmainham at 11pm, there will be one official bus waiting to drop anyone close to the after-parties, where you can catch acts such as Idris Elba in Opium, Bonobo in the Button Factory and Four Tet in Wigwam. Tickets for the after-parties are only available on the festival site across the weekend, and you'll need your festival wristband to gain entry.
