The National are returning to their Cincinnati roots with their new festival, Homecoming. In association with MusicNOW, the festival will take place on April 28 and 29 in the city’s Smale Park. The National are headlining both nights and promise fans a completely new set with each performance. The band is also curating the lineup and they’ve already signed on Julien Baker, Moses Sumney, The Breeders, Future Islands, and Father John Misty to name a few.
“As a rock band, we play with other rock bands. But we also do projects with visual artists. We all grew up [in Cincinnati], it is very much deep in our DNA,” said the National guitarist Bryce Dessner to Billboard back in December. “It’s a beautiful city with a lot of culture. It’s changing a lot — and we [want] to be a part of that.”
Homecoming will also incorporate other facets of Cincinnati’s art scene and will include city-wide events surrounding the festival. Currently, the festival has plans for an installation by A Lot of Sorrow collaborator and Icelandic multimedia artist Ragnar Kjartansson at the Cincinnati Art Museum, a premiere of the Cincinnati Ballet with Eighth Blackbird, and a photography exhibition, with more to be added in the coming months.
The National’s latest LP, Sleep Well Beast, was released in September 2017 via 4AD and was nominated for two Grammy Awards: for Best Alternative Music Album and Best Recording Package. Tickets for Homecoming are available here.
