The first edition of the Festival De Les Arts is set to rock the Turia capital this weekend, bringing with it an array of national and international bands. Here’s our pick of the bunch…

Triángulo de Amor Bizarro

Loud guitars, rapid drums, synth, distortion and dreamy vocals. Hailing from Galicia, Triángulo de Amor Bizarro are probably one of the loudest bands playing the festival. And here at Sepia we like loud. The band last visited Valencia in February of this year when we were treated to their melange of energetic shoegaze-pop-punk in Sala Wah Wah. We’re looking forward to see how they fare on an open air stage.
Our favourite tracks: Estrellas Místicas, De la Mano de las Almas Oscuras, Amigos del Género Humano
Most recent release: Victoria Mística [Mushroom Pillow, 2013]
Our first must-see of the weekend, Triángulo de Amor Bizarro play on the Coolway stage on Friday at 20:15.

The Wave Pictures

Seemingly on one never-ending tour, The Wave Pictures are back on Spanish soil just months after their previous flurry of gigs which saw them pass through Valencia’s El Loco last March. Expect dancey guitar solos, lyrics that paint a thousand pictures, and the odd harmonica. Bloody lovely.
Our favourite tracks: Long Black Cars, Before This Day, Eskimo Kiss, Cut Them Down In The Passes
Most recent release: Great Big Flamingo Burning Moon [Moshi Moshi, 2014]
The Wave Pictures play the Coolway stage at 00:30 on Friday night – a fine band to close the first day of the festival.

Nueva Vulcano

Having just completed a 10 date Spanish tour as well as a slot on the Ray Ban stage at Primavera Sound, Nueva Vulcano return to Valencia to continue promoting their new album, Novelería. We were lucky enough to interview them before their gig in La Rambleta last month – check it out here. Nueva Vulcano‘s brand of pop-punk-post hardcore has secured their place as giants of the Barcelona underground. Do not miss.
Our favourite tracks: El Ataque, El Mirlo, Mogollón, El Día de Mañana
Most recent release: Novelería [BCore, 2015]
Catch them on the Negrita stage on Saturday at 7 o’clock.

The festival kicks off this Friday 5th June at the Ciudad de Las Artes y Las Ciencias. The once-upon-a-time venue for the MTV Winter concerts, the City of Arts and Sciences will be the temporary home to 3 stages and the Foodies Merkat, a gastro area with 16 food trucks – something that seems to be very de moda in this year’s festivals. Other acts worth a watch include Toundra, who recently completed a very successful tour of Spain, fellow BRITS The Wombats and NME darlings and international break through group, Hinds.

Edit 5/6/15: Hinds have dropped out due to illness. It’s no biggie, though, as they’ll be replaced by raucously loud Valencian rock trio Betunizer. Hooray! Here’s our favourite track – turn up the bass!

Check out the full line-up complete with set times here:

A downside of the festival, however, has to be the prompt set times, with some of the concerts starting as early as 3pm. This isn’t ideal for those who work on Friday afternoons, not to mention those who don’t fancy burning to a crisp underneath the hot Valencian sunshine. Let’s hope official sponsors Heineken allow for competitive prices to help us cool off, or we’ll all be in the fountains.

Additional concerts, talks and exhibitions take place on the evening of the 4th in Las Naves, but can only be accessed by Les Arts Pro ticket holders.

So, who are you looking forward to seeing?