Now that Bestival’s Summer of Love theme is out in the open and the amorous adventures are well and truly underway, we’re more than a little excited to turn our attentions to the first line-up announcement.
Featuring Thursday Big Top headliners, Saturday main stage headliners, and a litany of party people spreading their love across more than 25 stages in eight fields of wonderment with mega soundsystems, non-stop parties and 24-hour escapism, this is just the beginning, so don’t miss out: feel the love this September 10th-13th at Robin Hill on the Isle of Wight.
Festival curator Rob da Bank says: “We’re taking it right back to our roots for the 12th annual Bestival. It’s also the 20th birthday of the club where it all started – Sunday Best, and that club and our beloved Bestival were founded on some pretty simple aims – listen to amazing music, make new friends, have fun, and maybe stay up all night. Two decades later we’re rigidly sticking to those principles, and this edition of Bestival, with its Summer of Love theme, is all about one huge musical, well, orgy… So, returning friends The Chemical Brothers rave alongside iconic popstars Duran Duran and The Jacksons, and some of my favourite modern musical mavericks – Tame Impala, Flying Lotus and Jungle – jump in bed together… and this is just the start of the party… Watch this space and feel the love!”
With a brand new album about to drop, The Chemical Brothers will be headlining Saturday night at Bestival’s Summer of Love. Longstanding favourites at Bestival HQ, we’re giddy with anticipation for an all-new live show featuring Tom Rowlands dropping the knowledge and those fat, fat beats. A colossus in dance music and leaders in club culture’s move into the mainstream, The Chemical Brothers are simply historic.
Another firm Besti-crew favourite is Underworld, who will headline the Big Top on Thursday night as part of a UK festival exclusive for us! Currently touring their seminal Dubnobasswithmyheadman album to packed venues across the land, Bestival have bagged them to kick off the epic four-day love-fest, when they’ll be proving it’s not just skyscrapers that they love.
Commenting on their opening night appearance, Underworld said: “Can’t wait to be back on the Isle of Wight with the Bestival crew. Be sure to get there early to catch us on Thursday night and start the weekend as you mean to go on”.
Joining our line-up for the first time for a UK festival exclusive appearance are iconic trailblazers Duran Duran. Unstoppable as ever, the band are currently in the studio with Mr. Hudson, Mark Ronson and Nile Rodgers, putting the finishing touches on a brand new album, set for release later this year. Frontman Simon Le Bon says: “This year sees the beginning of a new Duran Duran live show. I couldn’t imagine starting it with more of a bang than an appearance at Bestival.”
We’ll also have a UK festival exclusive appearance from the world’s most famous musical family, The Jacksons, and live sets from psychedelic riff merchants Tame Impala, soul-powered collective Jungle, bloc party hip-hop kings Jurassic 5, a UK exclusive from unique beat sculptor Flying Lotus, garage duo Gorgon City, who, as you’ll know, are ‘ready for your love’, genre-swerving four-piece Little Dragon; the golden voiced Roisin Murphy, and deep house don and UK singles chart-topper Duke Dumont.
And there’s plenty more live music from the likes of Kate Tempest, Jamie xx (Live), Boy Better Know, Todd Terje (live), Action Bronson, Future Islands, Level 42 , Young Fathers, Flight Facilities, Rae Morris, Jungle Brothers, The Cuban Brothers, Pond, Sleaford Mods, Fat White Family, Lapsley, Cymande, Slaves, Shura, George The Poet, Dean Blunt, Snap!, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, Mr Wilson’s Second Liners, The Rajasthan Heritage Brass Band, Reggaerobics and Circus Raj.
Sharing bounteous love on the ones & twos late into the night, we’ll have the undisputed queen of Radio 1’s dance shows Annie Mac, rabble rousing as Lily Allen presents FUNLORD, plus Kalamazoo’s coolest man Seth Troxler, musical yarn-spinners Tale of Us, first lady of bass Hannah Wants, and the unutterably brilliant Four Tet, who will not only be blowing minds when he opens The Port on Friday but will also be taking everybody that bit higher, bringing our beloved Bollywood to a close the very same night!
We’ll also have mayhem from Black Butter Presents…, sick beats from Madlib, floor-smashing goodness from Jackmaster, Joy Orbison going toe to toe with Ben UFO, cosmic techno from Guy Gerber, full signal when David Rodigan MBE presents Ram Jam, sonic adventuring from Erol Alkan, beautiful blends as erstwhile Streets man Mike Skinner presents Tonga and unknown pleasures from Andrew Weatherall.
And there’s plenty more arms in the air behaviour courtesy of SHY FX’s Party on the Moon, Mistajam presents Speakerbox, Benji B presents Deviation, Redlight, Jonas Rathsman, The Heatwave, Norman Jay MBE presents Good Times, Wookie, The Shellac Collective, Late Nite Tuff Guy, SG Lewis, Joe Hertz, World Of Rave & Music Mondays presents: Billy Daniel Bunter, Slipmatt, Rat Pack, Mark Archer (Altern-8), Kaotic Chemistry, Baby D, Liquid & Uncle Dugs, Work It DJs, Juicebox DJs and Venum Sound.
Tickets for Bestival’s Summer of Love go on sale at 10am on Thursday 12th February, and will be available through our ground breaking weekly payment plan, which lets you spread the cost of a Bestival ticket across 25 weeks for around £7 per week after your initial deposit.
Since there is a bit of a hippie vibe going on this year, bringing back the peace and love, it seems like the perfect time to announce that Bestival has become a member of pioneering project Energy Revolution, a festival charity (pending incorporation) that crowdsources donations and invests in clean energy to tackle climate change and create a sustainable future for everyone. Audience travel makes up around 70% of a festival’s carbon footprint. Together we can account for millions of miles of travel, and turn a problem into a solution – renewable energy is the best chance we have to reduce global emissions to safe levels. So when you book your car park, caravan or camper tickets there will be an option to add a £3 donation to Energy Revolution. We’re doing our bit by using renewables where possible, so if you could help too, we could make a real difference!
More announcements are due to arrive very soon, with tickets on sale now.
