Floating Points brings Sunflower Sound System to Head Trip for US debut

Featuring Avalon Emerson, Ben UFO, Eris Drew & Octo Octa, Four Tet, Theo Parrish, and more.

Photo credit: Jason Evans

Head Trip and Floating Points have announced the lineup for the US debut of Sunflower Sound System, taking place October 10th and 11th, 2026 at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California.

Designed by Floating Points, aka Sam Shepherd, Sunflower Sound System is a custom-built hi-fi environment developed over more than a decade. At Head Trip, the system will be installed inside an acoustically treated and paneled dome, with 10 custom speaker stacks arranged in a circle around the audience.

The installation will also feature tapestries and original artwork commissioned from DJ and artist Josephine Chime, alongside the debut of the ‘Cosmosphere’, a giant mechanical mirrorball designed to bloom above the room as the music builds.

Programming across the weekend brings together Floating Points, Avalon Emerson, Ben UFO, Eris Drew & Octo Octa, Four Tet, Mad Professor, Theo Parrish, and Zach Cowie. The programme runs from 3:00 PM to 12:30 AM on Saturday and from 3:00 PM to 11:30 PM on Sunday.

Speaking about bringing the system to California, Shepherd said, “The system is a labour of love and it’s constantly being monitored by our engineers who will be tweaking things as we go.”

Sunflower Sound System follows other projects in Shepherd’s work, including the 2021 album ‘Promises’, created with Pharoah Sanders and the London Symphony Orchestra, and ‘Mere Mortals’, his first full-length ballet score, commissioned by San Francisco Ballet Artistic Director Tamara Rojo with choreography by Aszure Barton and design and visuals by Hamill Industries.

The wider Head Trip programme takes place around a single main stage with no overlapping performances. Saturday features Calvin Harris, FISHER + Chris Lake: Under Construction, Peggy Gou B2B Four Tet, and Seth Troxler B2B Ben Sterling. Sunday features Swedish House Mafia, Skrillex, Dom Dolla B2B KETTAMA, The Blessed Madonna, and DJ Harvey.

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