Knoxville’s annual avant festival will take place in March 2025
Anohni and the Johnsons, Jessica Pratt, and Waxahatchee will appear at Big Ears Festival next year.
Taking place on March 27 through 30 in downtown Knoxville, Tennessee, the stacked lineup also includes Rufus Wainwright, Esperanza Spalding, Taj Mahal, Lankum, Yo La Tengo, Sun Ra Arkestra, Cassandra Jenkins, Wilco’s Nels Cline, and many more.
Also featured in the festival is the premiere of Jonny Greenwood’s eight-hour pipe organ piece 133 Years of Reverb — performed by James McVinnie and Eliza McCarthy — and the Philip Glass Ensemble, who will play Glass’ 1974 piece Music in Twelve Parts. Glass himself performed at the festival alongside Laurie Anderson in 2016.
The 2025 appearance of Anohni and the Johnson is a full circle moment for the band, who helped launch the avant festival in 2009. Anohni recently announced a tour, her first in nearly a decade. Their most recent album, My Back Was a Bridge for You to Cross, was released in 2023.
“It is my first time touring since 2016, and first time with a band in 14 years,” she said. “I feel like I want to sing for people, to affirm that these times are unprecedented, and to hold and express a sense of what’s really happening.”
Tickets for Big Ears Festival go on sale Thursday at 9 am E.T.
