Embrace LDN: Josh Baker, KETTAMA and Prospa Announce Finsbury Park B3B

A new festival just announced its first headliner, and it's a properly exciting one. Embrace LDN — a brand new outdoor event setting up in North London's Finsbury Park — has revealed its first booking: Josh Baker, KETTAMA and Prospa going back-to-back-to-back on Saturday, July 3, 2027. The announcement broke September 25 via a teaser video that showed the trio in suits, playing pool in a dimly lit hall — low on information, high on atmosphere. Presale access opens September 29 via laylo.com, with general sale following September 30 on Ticketmaster.

Three Artists, One Very Specific Dancefloor Sound

The pairing of these three isn't random. Baker, KETTAMA and Prospa have each been staking out adjacent territory in the underground for the better part of the last several years, and the Venn diagram of their sounds has always been tight: peak-time house and techno with serious low-end discipline, a respect for the mechanics of the dancefloor, and none of the polished surface that defines the more commercial end of the scene.

Baker is Leeds-born, now operating at the top of the UK underground — his sets at venues like Fabric and Wire have cemented a reputation for reading a room and then patiently dismantling it. KETTAMA is the Irish producer and DJ whose trajectory over the past two years has been one of the more exciting in the scene — the energy in his sets sits at the intersection of hard house, rave-influenced breakbeats, and UK bass, and he's developed a devoted following who show up specifically for how he handles that intensity across a long set.

Prospa, the Leeds duo, chart a course through classic house and rave-era dance music that tends to run heavier and more textured than the average tech house offering. Their live energy together — as a duo performing as a unit — adds a dimension that a solo DJ slot doesn't have.

What a B3B Actually Demands

Three-way back-to-backs are a rarer format than the standard B2B for good reason — they require more than just musical compatibility. The rotation has to flow without bottlenecking, each DJ needs to be present enough to contribute a distinct voice without interrupting the other's momentum, and the whole thing can easily become less than the sum of its parts if the chemistry isn't there.

Baker, KETTAMA and Prospa have already played together in various configurations. KETTAMA and Prospa went B2B at Coachella's Framework in the Desert stage earlier this year, and the three have shared enough lineups and after-hours floors that the shorthand between them should be well-established. For a new festival launching on the ambition of a single headline act, this is the kind of booking that signals intent — you announce the first headliner and it needs to justify the anticipation on its own. This one does.

Finsbury Park as a Venue

Finsbury Park has become one of the more reliable outdoor settings in North London for large-scale electronic music events. Its layout suits the kind of programming that benefits from space — multiple stages across enough ground that sound bleeds don't become a problem, with the park's geography helping to contain the noise in a way that more urban venues can't manage. For a new festival using a debut headline booking to establish its identity, it's a smart site choice: established enough to carry weight, but not so associated with a competing brand that Embrace LDN's own identity gets swallowed.

The Bigger Picture for the UK Underground

The announcement lands in a UK festival landscape that has been reshaping itself for the past few years. Smaller, identity-driven outdoor events with a clear aesthetic and a targeted booking policy have generally fared better than the medium-sized festivals trying to cover too many genres. Embrace LDN's launch move — one headliner, a specific sound, a credible outdoor venue — suggests they understand this dynamic.

Whether the rest of the lineup lives up to the opener is another question. But as first impressions go, Josh Baker B2B KETTAMA B2B Prospa at Finsbury Park is a strong one. Presale access for Embrace LDN opens via laylo.com on September 29.