An amazing line up of musical talent has been announced today for this year’s Splendour Festival, the all-day summer music festival which takes place at Nottingham’s Wollaton Park on Saturday 23 July.
The Human League and UB40 – two legendary bands with an outstanding back catalogue stretching back more than 40 years – join the bill on the main stage headlined by one of the hottest artists of the moment Jess Glynne, the Grammy award winner with an unbelievable 5 UK Number 1 singles from her chart topping debut album.
Another British singer with a debut number 1 album, Jamie Lawson is next on the bill with Turin Brakes, Jeremy Loops and local Nottingham artist Ady Suleiman also announced for the main stage. Suleiman has been earmarked as one to watch, his timelessly classic yet fresh sound has garnered him a broad range of influential fans from both sides of the Atlantic. The festival will once again be championing local talent by offering the opening slot of the main stage to the winner of the hotly contested Future Sound of Nottingham battle of the bands competition.
Across the park, multi-million selling megaband The Darkness will headline the Confetti stage along with The Fratellis, The Rifles, Stiff Little Fingers, Louis Berry, These Your Children and Eyre Llew.
Headlining the Acoustic Rooms stage will be British folk singer Will Varley, who has recently sold out The Bodega and supported Frank Turner at Rock City, followed by Brad Dear, Tom McCartney, Bru-C, Ellie Keegan, Josh Wheatley, Raphael Blake and Lowrie.
Over on the Funhouse Comedy stage, acts will include: John Ryan, Patrick Monahan, Ivan Brackenbury, El Baldiniho, Tom Binns, Vince Atta.
Formed in Sheffield in the late 1970s The Human League evolved into one of the seminal 80s electro pop bands. The band sold more than 20 million records and their classic pop masterpiece ‘Don’t You Want Me’ was a number one hit around the world.
Naming themselves after the unemployment benefit form, UB40 formed in 1978, before releasing their debut album ‘Signing Off’ in August 1980. It was the start of a career that has since seen the band have over forty UK Top 40 hit singles and achieve sales of over 100 million records. Led by Robin Campbell and Duncan Campbell on vocals, UB40 play Splendour for the first time following a sell-out show at Rock City in 2014.
British singer-songwriter Jamie Lawson is quickly making his mark on the music industry, as the first artist signed to Ed Sheeran’s record label, Gingerbread Man Records. In the whirlwind that followed, Jamie toured with Ed across the world and supported One Direction on their final full UK arena tour. His self-titled album reached #1 in the UK and has sold over a quarter of a million copies worldwide.
After a fantastic sell out show at Rock City in December, three-times Brit award winners The Darkness will be bringing some glam rock to the Confetti stage. Revellers can expect a high-energy set, full of remarkably catchy material, and unapologetic worship of old-school rock & roll including their classic “I Believe in a Thing Called Love”.
Scottish rockers The Fratellis will bring their turbo charged indie guitar tunes including top 10 hit singles “Chelsea Dagger” and “Whistle For The Choir”.
2015 saw indie band The Rifles mark the ten year anniversary of their debut album ‘No Love Lost’ with four triumphant sold out Electric Ballroom shows in London and 2016 will see the release of their 5th album.
Punk rock stalwarts Stiff Little Fingers take to the stage before hotly tipped Liverpool-born singer-songwriter Louis Berry will take things in a soulful direction with his gritty rock ‘n’ roll with soul. Louis has won praise from the likes of BBC Radio 1’s Annie Mac, John Kennedy at Radio X and Zane Lowe.
George Akins, owner, DHP Family, said: “We’re delighted to bring bands to Splendour that have contributed so much to the musical heritage in this country. Once again, we’re confident that our mix of music legends along with some of the hottest artists of the moment will make it a winning day out for everyone, whatever their age or musical taste.”
Recognised as the city’s biggest summer day out and shortlisted in the final three for Best Festival in the national Live Music Business awards, organisers DHP Family and Nottingham City Council are keen to replicate the success of last year which saw 20,000 festival goers sprawled across Wollaton Park. With lots happening all over the park aside from the three music stages, including comedy in the courtyard, a kids’ area and entertainers out and about in the crowd, the festival is a fantastic day out for all the family.
Councillor Dave Trimble, Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Culture at Nottingham City Council, said: “We’re pleased to announce a great line-up for Splendour Festival that I think Nottingham people will love. Splendour really is the highlight of the summer and with acts like Jess Glynne, The Human League, UB40 and The Darkness, tickets are sure to sell fast. Splendour truly offers something for all tastes in music, and with the comedy stage and kids’ area it’s a really fun family day out.”
Splendour has also partnered with the multi-award winning radio station Gem. As well as activity on the day of the festival, they’ll cover all the line-up announcements and offer the chance to win tickets over the coming months. Their breakfast presenters Sam & Amy will be at Splendour soaking up the sunshine (fingers crossed), and are both looking forward to it after last year!
Gem’s Sam said: “Splendour is the highlight of the year for Nottingham; relaxing in the sun, listening to music, you can’t beat it. Amy and I can’t wait to be there again this year, we’re very excited Gem is involved again.”
Tickets for Splendour are on sale now. Children under 11 will once again be admitted free, and City Card discounts are also in place for Nottingham residents. A standard ticket is £45, coming down to £35 when the City Card discount is applied. Young people aged 11-17 with a City Card are £20 while tickets for young people with a County Card are £35. VIP packages are also available starting from £50.
Tickets can be purchased from all the main ticketing sites or in person from locations around the city such as Nottingham Tourism Centre; Royal Concert Hall and Nottingham City Council leisure centres.
To stay in touch with festival news and line up announcements, follow Splendour on twitter @SplendourFest; like the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/splendourfestivalUK/ and be the first to hear about Splendour 2016 tickets and artist announcements by registering here: www.splendourfestival.com/mailing-list
