After 11 years away, Tame Impala is set to return to the Orange Stage at Roskilde Festival, leading the first 18 acts announced for the 2027 edition. The festival runs from 26 June to 3 July 2027 in Roskilde, just outside Copenhagen. The festival says the band's show will be its only Scandinavian festival appearance next year. roskilde-festival
Roskilde has never been a small event with a narrow idea of itself. Two high school students, Mogens Sandfær and Jesper Møller, started it in 1971, according to The Copenhagen Post, and a non-profit foundation has run it since 1972. The festival now describes itself as Northern Europe's largest. For its 55th edition, organizers expect 130,000 participants, including 27,000 volunteers. Almost 200 acts will make up the full music programme, according to the festival's own announcement. cphpostWikipedia
Tame Impala Anchors a First Wave Built on Range
The headliner is Kevin Parker's project. According to the festival, Tame Impala has spent two decades moving between psychedelic soundscapes, alternative rock, euphoric pop and elements of rave culture. Organizers describe the Orange Stage set as one of only a few European festival shows the band plays in 2027.
Thomas Sønderby Jepsen, the festival's Head of Music, framed the bill as deliberately mixed. "With this first announcement, we are outlining the programme with 18 acts representing vastly different sounds and tendencies," he said.
Around the headliner, the list leans toward artists with something to say. Kacey Musgraves, whom the festival calls an eight-time Grammy winner, is booked alongside Caroline Polachek and the Patti Smith Quartet. The festival points to Polachek's public comments on gender and representation in the music industry, and to Musgraves' advocacy for LGBTQ+ rights. Smith brings what the release describes as more than 50 years of rock history, poetry and activism.
Jepsen tied the three together. "Patti Smith has always been a powerful artistic and activist voice, while Caroline Polachek and Kacey Musgraves are striking examples of artists carrying that tradition forward by actively using their music and the attention surrounding it to make a difference," he said.
Roskilde Festival 2027 Tickets Open Alongside a Karpe Farewell
The rest of the first wave covers a lot of ground, though none of it is filler. London jazz group Ezra Collective, which the festival says blends jazz, soul, afrobeat and Cuban rhythms, is on the list. So is New York band Nu Jazz, described as a mix of jazz, drum'n'bass, noise and electronic music. G Jones B2B Eprom represent the electronic side.
Norwegian hip-hop duo Karpe will play Roskilde as part of what the festival calls their final-ever tour. Underscores, a US hyperpop artist, joins Suki Waterhouse, Emma Sehested Høeg and Kundo. The heavier end includes Neurosis, Konvent, Drain and Lambrini Girls. Underscores has described her own sound as "the sound of the future."
Ticket sales opened with the announcement. The festival lists a full week pass at €355, a one-day ticket at €205 and a two-day ticket at €300, all including fees. Two-day passes let buyers combine two of the final four festival days. The festival says a train from central Copenhagen reaches a station at the site in under 30 minutes.
Eighteen acts is roughly a tenth of what Roskilde plans to book. The first wave suggests the festival intends to keep the same wide spread across the remaining lineup, with a big Orange Stage name on top and a long list of smaller, stranger acts underneath. Further announcements will fill in the picture before the gates open on 26 June.
