The summer festival season kicks off with a kung-fu chop to the windpipe this weekend when the Forbidden Fruit carnival rolls into town – or specifically, to the beautiful grounds of the Royal Hospital in Kilmainham.

To celebrate that fact, we've narrowed down their tasty line-up to 8 acts that you must see. Go see other stuff too, of course, but make sure you catch these 8 acts, whatever you do. The festival has taken a noticeable slant towards dance and hip-hop this year, but there's enough variation in the nooks and crannies of the line-up to keep you satisfied across the weekend.

FATBOY SLIM

Friday night's headliner is gonna be a good 'un. When you've got the amount of hits in your back pocket as Norman Cook does, you can't disappoint (as long as he plays ball and doesn't go all experimental on us, that is.) We want the hits, Norm. With any luck, you can expect to hear the likes of 'Praise You', 'Right Here, Right Now', 'Rockafeller Skank' and more.

 

RUN THE JEWELS

The hip-hop super-team of Killer Mike and El-P played a blinder at their last Dublin gig, when hundreds packed into the Opium Rooms for a sweaty, rambunctious set. The sound was brutal at that gig, mind – so hopefully this one will be better.

 

WU-TANG CLAN

How long do you have to be around to earn your 'legend' status? Whatever; Wu-Tang are there. In the game for over two decades, we can't wait to see one of hip-hop's all-time greatest acts do their thing.

 

CYRIL HAHN

The young Swiss-born, Vancouver-based electronica musician/producer is all about the crowd-pleasers – he's well known for his unbelievable remixes and reworkings of songs by everyone from Beyonce to Haim. Expect to hear the pop/r&b songs you know and love brilliantly warped beyond recognition. And expect to dance.

 

EAST INDIA YOUTH

Take a breather to catch Will Doyle, the young Englishman who trades under the East India Youth moniker. He's released two very fine albums in the vein of James Blake or – more generously – echoing his hero Brian Eno; ambient, thought-provoking electronica with gorgeous vocals that's perfect to chill out to.

 

JAMIE XX

 

The engine room of The xx, Jamie Smith, finally releases his debut album 'In Colour' this weekend - so you can expect to hear some new tracks in the same inventive electronica vein during his set.

 

RUSANGANO FAMILY

Make sure you catch one of the most exciting hip-hop acts in Ireland; they're great live, too. You may have known them in their previous guise 'Godknows + MynameisjOhn'; they released a brilliant, colourful, evocative album 'Rusangano/Family' last year, which you can listen to here if you don't believe us.

 

 

TRINITY ORCHESTRA

 

They've become something of a fixture at certain Irish festivals over the last few years, and with good reason; Trinity Orchestra are like a breath of fresh air, no matter what your taste in music. They've taken on albums by Daft Punk, Pink Floyd and Michael Jackson in the past, so there's a lot of bases covered – and sure wasn't Hozier once a member? You might catch the next big worldwide star among their ranks this weekend…