Latitude Festival

Latitude Festival
Dates	Mid July
Location(s)	Suffolk, England
Years active	2006 - onwards
Website
www.latitudefestival.co.uk

The Latitude Festival is an annual music festival that takes place in Henham Park, near Southwold, Suffolk, England. It was first held in July 2006. Latitude is said to be more similar to continental European festivals; as well as a comprehensive bill of musicians, bands and artists across four stages - The Obelisk Arena, The BBC Radio 6 Music Stage, The i Arena, and the Huw Stephens-edited Lake Stage, the festival comprises elements of theatre, art, comedy, cabaret, poetry, politics, dance and literature.

The festival is run by Festival Republic (formerly the Mean Fiddler Group), which also run the Reading and Leeds festivals and up until 2013 was contracted to run Glastonbury Festival.

List of major acts 2006

Snow Patrol Headlining the Latitude festival 2006

Latitude Festival

Friday 14 July

• Snow Patrol
• The Zutons
• The Lemonheads

Saturday 15 July

• Antony and the Johnsons
• Patti Smith
• Larrikin Love
• Soft Hearted Scientists
• Field Music

Sunday 16 July

• Mogwai
• Paolo Nutini
• Archie Bronson Outfit

List of major acts 2007

Other acts appearing over the three days included the following

• Au Revoir Simone
• Bill Bailey
• Bat for Lashes
• Lenny Beige
• Camera Obscura
• Alan Carr
• Cold War Kids
• Fancy Spaniels
• Halloween Film Society
• Arnab Chanda
• Russell Howard
• Phill Jupitus
• The Light Surgeons
• Lee Mack
• Scott Matthews
• Dylan Moran
• Carol Morley
• Kate Nash
• Seasick Steve
• Chris Shepherd
• Two Gallants
• The Book Club (with Robin Ince)

Security at Latitude 2007

Latitude 2007 was marred by a spate of thefts, in particular on the night of 12 July. Burglaries from more than 40 tents were subsequently reported to Suffolk Police. Inadequate security, including a decision by festival organisers, Mean Fiddler Music Group, not to engage a police presence on site for the duration of the festival has attracted a degree of criticism.^[1]

List of major music acts 2008

The 2008 line up was announced on 19 March 2008 with Franz Ferdinand headlining on the Friday, Sigur Rós on the Saturday, and Interpol on the Sunday.

Other music acts due to appear

• The Exploits of Elaine (soundtracking Sarah Wood's film Book of Love)
• M.I.A. was scheduled to headline the Sunrise Arena on the Sunday but pulled out due to ill health.
• Ida Maria was scheduled to play on the main stage on Sunday but withdrew due to ill health.

Other artists

Comedy Arena acts included:-

Friday - Andy Robinson, Robin Ince, Adam Bloom, Simon Day, Ben Norris, Marcus Brigstocke (standing in for Dave Fulton), Russell Howard, Daniel Rigby, Arnab Chanda, Ross Noble, Simon Evans, Lucy Porter, Phil Kay & Guilty Pleasures

Saturday - Stephen Grant, Dan Atkinson, Carey Marx, Tim Minchin, Scott Capurro, Jon Richardson, Bill Bailey, Jason Wood, Michael Fabbri, Jeremy Hardy, Miles Jupp, Rich Hall & Guilty Pleasures

Sunday - Rufus Hound, Russell Kane, Phill Jupitus, Steve Weiner, Andrew Lawrence, Frankie Boyle, Milton Jones, Lee Mack, Otis Lee Crenshaw, Stewart Lee, Hans Teeuwen, Omid Djalili & Swap-a-Rama

Film Arena appearances included:-

Barry Adamson, George Pringle, Halloween Film Festival, Chris Shepherd, Their Hearts Were Full of Spring and Grind A Go-Go from 'Oh My God! I Miss You...'.

In the Woods appearances:-

Dirty Protest Theatre

Latitude Festival 2009

The fourth edition took place on 16–19 July 2009. Acts that played include Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Thom Yorke, Grace Jones and Pet Shop Boys as the main headliners, alongside Editors, Doves, and Bat for Lashes. The headliners and ticket details were announced on the Latitude Festival official site on 23 March 2009, at 7pm and sold out near to the event. More acts were confirmed at around 12:00 pm on the following day. These acts had already been previously reported on BBC Radio 1, but denied by festival organisers. Also announced in the press were The Gossip. On 3 April 2009 the official Latitude website confirmed Magazine, Spiritualized and Newton Faulkner to be playing. In June, it was announced that Thom Yorke would play an exclusive solo set as the festival's special guest (a role taken by Joanna Newsom in 2008). BBC Radio covered the 4 day event with live music, comedy, sessions and interviews featured in shows across Radio 2, Radio 4, 6 Music and BBC Suffolk. The total attendance for the weekend was 25,000.

The poetry arena included performances from Andrew Motion, Brian Patten, Roger Lloyd-Pack (performing T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land), Jackie Kay, Simon Armitage and Jeffrey Lewis; The Comedy Arena featured Jo Brand, Ed Byrne, Mark Thomas, Sean Lock, Adam Hills, Sean Hughes and Dave Gorman; The Theatre Arena showcased Royal Shakespeare Company, National Theatre, Bush Theatre and Paines Plough; The Literary Arena presented Blake Morrison, Jonathan Coe, Mark Steel, Vivienne Westwood, Sir Peter Blake, Frank Skinner and Luke Haines.

Latitude Festival 2010

Latitude 2010 (the fifth edition) took place on 15, 16, 17 and 18 July 2010. Initial lineup announcements were made at 7pm on Tuesday 9 March 2010.^[2] Capacity for the event was increased substantially to 35,000.

Security at Latitude 2010

There was a reported gang rape on the first night of the festival which resulted in a heavy police presence for the remainder of the festival, including posters and flyers being handed out.^[3] Crystal Castles criticised the rapists during their performance on the Main Stage calling the perpetrators "disgusting". A second rape was reported to have occurred on the second night though it attracted much less publicity than the first.^[4] Women were advised against going anywhere on site unaccompanied.

Latitude Festival 2011

Latitude 2011 (the sixth edition) took place on 14–17 July 2011. The first line up announcements were revealed on 14 March 2011. The three Obelisk headliners were revealed as well as a number of other artists and acts appearing across all stages.

Latitude Festival 2012

Latitude 2012 (the seventh edition) took place on 12–15 July 2012. The first line up announcements were revealed on 5 March 2012. The three Obelisk headliners were revealed alongside the three Word Arena headliners, as well as a number of other artists and acts appearing across all stages. What was previously known as the 'Sunrise Arena' has been changed to the 'i Arena'.

Artists who also performed over the weekend include: George Fitzgerald, Mosca, Shy FX, Skittles, Tuesday Born.

Latitude Festival 2013

Latitude 2013 (the eighth edition) took place on 18–21 July. The first acts were revealed on 19 March 2013. What was previously known as the Word Arena had its official name changed to the BBC Radio 6 Music Stage. A brand new music stage has been announced for 2013, The Alcove Stage, which is said to be showcasing upcoming acts with many of the artists coming from the local area.

Also performing or DJing over the weekend include: Abi Uttley, Anushka, Benin City, Bipolar Sunshine, The Busy Twist, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Chloe Howl, Dems, Duologue, The Establishment, The Family Rain, Gamu, Hero Fisher, Kins, Lizzie Bellamy, Lorca, Maglia Rosa Group, Marques Toliver, Milo Greene, MT Wolf, Mungo's Hi Fi, Ossie, Romare, Roy Davis, Jr., Ruen Brothers, Shox, Sivu, Superfood, Syd Arthur, Tuesday Born, Werkha, Zed Bias, Josh Record

Latitude Festival 2014

Latitude 2014 (the ninth edition) took place on 17–20 July. The first acts were revealed on 11 December 2013. The first headliner announced for the festival was going to be Two Door Cinema Club, but after their singer fell ill, Lily Allen headlined Friday night. Also announced to be performing include: Röyksopp, Robyn, Haim, Billy Bragg, Bombay Bicycle Club, Tame Impala, Slowdive, Hall & Oates, First Aid Kit, Booker T. Jones, Anna Calvi, Phosphorescent, Nils Frahm, Goat, Cass McCombs, Willis Earl Beal, Marika Hackman, San Fermin, Son Lux and Josephine Foster. On January 20, Damon Albarn was announced as the festival's second headliner via Twitter. The main headliners were The Black Keys ^[5]

Headliners from the i Arena including:

James Holden (Live)
Young Fathers
Future Islands
Nils Frahm

Headliners from the Lake stage including:

Bondax
Cate Le Bon
Catfish and the Bottlemen
Luke Sital-Singh

Latitude Festival 2015

Latitude 2015 will take place on Thu 16th - Sun 19 July. The initial lineup was announced on the 10th of March and included headliners alt-J, Portishead, and Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds.

See also

• List of music festivals in the United Kingdom

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Latitude Festival.

• Interviews with stars at Latitude Festival 2008 including Bill Bailey and Franz Ferdinand on ITV Local Anglia
• Latitude festival official site
• BBC Latitude coverage - Live tracks and radio shows from the festival
• Henham Park official site
• Mean Fiddler official site
• eFestivals festival coverage
• Warnfestival Latitude site
• Skiddle Latitude festival guide
• Latitude Festival highlights 2008, BAFTA events
• Latitude Festival highlights 2009, BAFTA events