Barack Obama unveils line-up for first White House festival

While the eyes of the world will tonight fall on the much-anticipated first debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, the current President of the United States is concerning himself with something far more important – the first festival to take place at The White House.
South by South Lawn is, in fact, organised along with the team behind SXSW, and will see acts including The Lumineers, Sharon Jones And The Dap Kings and DJ Beverly Bond entertaining the crowd on October 3. Additionally, there will be a screening of the Leonardo DiCaprio-directed documentary Before the Flood, which was scored by Nine Inch Nails man Trent Reznor and Mogwai.
While POTUS has had no fear of flexing his musical muscle when booking performers for private functions – his summer barbecue line-up featured Kendrick Lamar and Jangle Monae – this marks the first time that members of the public will be rocking out at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Tickets to the festival were distributed by public ballot, and it's hoped that it may become an annual event – although as yet neither Clinton nor Trump have made it part of their election manifesto.