Kilby Block Party has locked in its 2027 dates, setting the festival for May 14 to May 16 at Utah State Fairpark and unveiling a lineup built around 70 artists. Deftones, the Strokes, Jungle, Fontaines D.C. and Slayyyter are among the names on the poster, with more still masked by question marks.
The announcement is the clearest signal yet that the Salt Lake City festival is moving deeper into its role as a destination event for independent music fans. Lorde, who called Kilby Block Party “the absolute coolest festival ever,” has already given the bill a stamp of cultural cachet, and the booking list backs it up with Lil Yachty, IDLES, Spoon, Weyes Blood, Phantogram, Hot Chip, Kurt Vile & the Violators, Kim Gordon, Julien Baker, Wednesday, Atlas Sound, Wolf Parade, Mercury Rev, Iceage and Westside Cowboy and Frankie & the Witch Fingers.
One of the more pointed details on the poster is also one of the most revealing: Two Door Cinema Club is set to play Tourist History, the 2010 album that helped define its rise. That kind of billing turns the festival from a standard multi-act weekend into a series of specific draws, and it helps explain why the event now lands as a must-follow date on the spring calendar.
The scale matters because Kilby Block Party is no longer operating like a small local gathering. It began in 2019 as a one-day block party marking the 20th anniversary of Kilby Court, and organizers say this year's festival drew more than 30,000 attendees per day. They also say the 2026 edition brought nearly 16,000 out-of-state visitors to the region, generated an estimated $33.5 million contribution to Utah's gross domestic product, produced $3.3 million in state and local tax revenue and supported 419 jobs.
That growth has not come at the expense of the things that made the event stand out in the first place. The festival still includes nightly aftershows at intimate venues around the city, along with Vendor Village, the annual Crusher Cup skateboarding competition and the silent disco. Salt Lake City Weekly has called it a “can't-miss experience,” a description that now fits the booking strategy as much as the atmosphere.
What remains unresolved is built into the poster itself. The 70-artist count is public, but several slots are still signaled only with question marks, leaving room for more names to be revealed before May. For now, presale is underway, and the festival has already set its shape: a three-day run, a stacked bill and a few unanswered spots still waiting on names.
