Wales’ largest music festival, Green Man, has announced the first wave of acts to be playing their 20th anniversary event, returning once again to the epic surroundings of the Black Mountains deep in the heart of the Brecon Beacons.

Joining already-announced Michael Kiwanuka as headliners for this year’s festival are iconic electro-pioneers Kraftwerk, acclaimed Baltimore duo Beach House and eclectic party starters Metronomy.

Welsh acts confirmed for the 2022 event include Melin Melyn, Adwaith, Adam Walton and Huw Stephens. Monmouthshire native Ailsa Tully will also be bringing her own brand of alt pop to the Black Mountains event following the release of her latest EP ‘Holy Isle’, as will Cardiff based Alice Low.

And, from across all four corners of the UK and Ireland come some of the finest homegrown talent, including Welsh musician and producer Cate Le Bon, who recently released her new album Pompeii, spoken word performer and poet Kae Tempest, post punk band Dry Cleaning who are hot off the release of their much praised debut album New Long Leg, Dublin band The Murder Capital, alongside many more headliners of the future on the festival’s beloved Rising stage.

The magic of Green Man lies not just in its scenery and music. Made up of 10 individual areas, the festival also offers a diverse range of events to accompany its incredible line-up, boasting art installations spread throughout the tranquil valley, a beer and cider tent to enjoy a crisp Welsh pint, a mini-beast themed area of discovery and exploration for the little folk and a relaxation and workshop space for the teenagers. Further line ups of music, science, film, comedy & literature will be revealed in the coming months.

Tickets for this year’s festival sold out in two days back in September following a triumphant weekend in the Welsh Mountains in August that was able to take place against all odds.

After over 50 years as a band, 2022 will be Kraftwerk’s first time at Green Man Festival festival. Innovators of electronic music and infamous for their ‘robot pop’ style, Kraftwerk’s work has influenced much of what we hear today in modern music, with thanks to their seminal records Autobahn, Trans-Europe Express, The Man-Machine and Computer World.

Innovators and pioneers of electronic music, German band Kraftwerk are set to light up GM 2022.
Innovators and pioneers of electronic music, German band Kraftwerk are set to light up GM 2022. (Supplied by Green Man Festival)

Also headlining will be Baltimore duo Beach House, who will bathe the festival in their gorgeously ethereal dream pop. The band will play a career spanning set, including new material from their expansive new record Once Twice Melody.

Joseph Mount-fronted electro-pop collective Metronomy will kick off the weekend with a bang. With the band’s seventh album Small World out this month, their set is sure to be a genre traversing adventure of fan favourites and new material alike.

Electronic duo Bicep will keep tempo up across the weekend, still bathing in the glowing reception of their 2021 album Isles, which followed up their 2017 debut featuring their unmistakable track ‘Glue’.

Following in the footsteps of big name electronic artists such as Caribou, Four Tet, Floating Points and more to have graced Green Man stages, Bicep are sure to go down a storm.

American musical duo Beachhouse, formed in Baltimore, Maryland in 2004.
American musical duo Beachhouse, formed in Baltimore, Maryland in 2004. (Supplied by Green Man Festival.)

New York band Parquet Courts will return to the Welsh mountains alongside slowcore band Low, who last year shared their widely acclaimed new album HEY WHAT. Also heading over from the United States will be Ty Segall & Freedom Band with a raucous live show, Ezra Furman with her unmistakable art pop, cult indie hero Alex G, the unpredictable genreless glam of Yves Tumor and Its Band, Americana singer and multi-instrumentalist Valerie June and more.

English electronic music group Metronomy.
English electronic music group Metronomy. (Supplied by Green Man Festival)

From across the globe to the Brecon Beacons come Senegal’s iconic dance band Orchestra Baobab, Swedish electro post-punk outfit Viagra Boys, Niger’s Tuareg songwriter and musician Mdou Moctar, Zambia’s Zamrock band Witch, Grammy nominated Brooklyn-based Pakistani vocalist Arooj Aftab, Japanese ten piece Minyo Crusaders, French-born, Belgian-Caribbean avant pop artist Charlotte Adigéry and Australian psych rock band Psychedelic Porn Crumpets.

Elsewhere, Cassandra Jenkins, James Yorkston & Second Hand Orchestra, Indigo De Souza, Pictish Trail, Gotts Street Park, Maria Somerville, amongst many others are sure to prove as highlights from across the rest of the weekend, with plenty more names across all stages to be announced over the coming months.

Green Man ’22 runs from Thursday August 18 to 21. Tickets are sold out.