This year marks the tenth anniversary of Latitude Festival. Situated near the Suffolk coast, Latitude has cultivated a reputation as the UK’s most relaxed festival. The four-day festival begins on Thursday 16th July, with performances starting on the Friday. Its spacious fields, glistening lake and colourful sheep are a far flung idyll compared to the crowded bog of other big-name festivals.
Latitude’s mainstage, The Obelisk Arena, offers a balanced roster of popular artists with the essential festival appeal. You can catch Caribou and Alt-J on the Friday Night, ground-breaking trip-hop pioneers Portishead on Saturday, and Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds closing the festival on the Sunday night.
Elsewhere the iArena promises to serve up the stars of tomorrow beneath the leafy canopy of the Latitude woods. After dark the stage becomes the atmospheric setting for a choice selection of DJs to carry you through into the early hours. Standouts include the technically adept DJ EZ and the subtly brilliant Ben UFO who interweaves his mixes of house and techno with lunar recordings and other space-bound oddities, giving his sets an ethereal and transcendent quality.
Leftfield and alternative acts will also be well-represented by the BBC Radio 6 Music Stage. Highlights including The Vaccines, Catfish and The Bottlemen, SBTRKT and La Roux. La Roux in particular being a must see, following a mature second album, and a new live ensemble La Roux has all the credentials to deliver a standout set.
Of course, there’s plenty more to Latitude than just the music as it is one of the few festivals to celebrate other arts and culture in equal measure. Highlights include: National Theatre Live presents Carol Anne Duffy’s adaptation of Everyman, with Chiwetel Ejiofor of 12 Years a Slave fame stepping into the title role; Jason Manford, Alan Davies, Jon Richardson, all performing headline slots on the comedy stage along with Adam Hills, Josh Widdicombe and Alex Brooker bringing a live iteration of their popular channel four show The Last Leg; and performances, talks, and installations in the Faraway Forest.
Latitude Festival runs from Thursday 6th July until Sunday 19th. Day and weekend tickets are available, and for those seeking to avoid the standard camping experience there are also various glamping options available too.
