This year’s inaugural Leisure Festival has just added two major female talents to the lineup: Dublin country-pop sensation CMAT and beloved indie star, Clairo. The festival which is set to take place in Dreamland, Margate promises a day of new music run by independent producers.

CMAT, aka Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson, a singer-songwriter from Dublin, skyrocketed into the global pop realm this year with the release of her debut album, If My Wife New I’d Be Dead. She will undoubtedly put on a thrilling performance at Leisure Fest as unapologetic and powerful as her record.

"There’s nothing on this album to indicate that this is the Dublin artist’s first rodeo," Hot Press' Lucy O'Toole said of the debut LP at the time. "If My Wife New I’d Be Dead is undoubtedly one of the most thrilling Irish pop debuts of the century – and behind the Rhinestone Cowboy glitz and glamour, it establishes CMAT as one of the most fearlessly introspective singer-songwriters to have emerged from these shores in years."

Clairo’s Sling was named in Hot Press’ Top 30 Folk Albums of the Year 2021. The Massachusetts artist, whose combination of acoustic sound and poetic lyricism walks the line between peaceful serenity and gut-wrenching melancholia, also made a stop at Dublin’s 3Olympia Theatre this January.

The festival takes place at Dreamland in Margate on Friday, June 24th and is brought to you by Bird on The Wire.

Tickets to the first-ever Leisure Festival are available online now. Revisit CMAT's January 2022 cover interview here.