Festival preview: Latitude

by Jon Fletcher

An unbelievable line-up in an unbelievable setting: why New Noise is a Latitude regular

"If that’s a little subdued for your liking, there are plenty of faster paced choices too. Black Kids, Foals, MIA, Amadou & Mariam and the Mars Volta are all set to ratchet up the noise levels"

 Latitude
 When: Thursday 17 July - Sunday 20 July
 Where: Henham Park, Southwold, Suffolk
 Official site: www.latitudefestival.co.uk
 Past New Noise coverage
 2007
 2006
  Click here for line up details.

We’re a little nervous about this year’s Latitude. Having taken a punt on the inaugural event in 2006, we flouted the unwritten rule that trying to mimic a breathtaking experience never works by returning last year, only for it to be even better. A line-up that seemed a little subdued for a summer event left us breathless, the likes of The National, Arcade Fire and CSS putting on stunning performances alongside then-lesser known acts like Pete & The Pirates.

The good weather has much to do with it, Mean Fiddler (now Festival Republic) appearing to have selected a weekend in the year that bags the sunshine when all around are waist high in flood water, but it’s also the care that goes into making this a unique, heartfelt and genuine event. Centring on a natural bowl that edges onto a narrow strip of a lake, Latitude’s mix of comedy, cabaret, literature and music brings in a variable but good natured crowd, a far cry from the bottle throwers of Reading or V.

Last year saw the organisers breaking new ground in other ways too, with hardy plastic beakers issued for a two pound deposit and then reused, ridding the site of the paper detritus that plagues other festivals.

This year’s event has, if anything, a more leftfield line up than last year, Interpol, Elbow and Sigur Ros occupying prominent positions on the bill. Still, as with last year, if that’s a little subdued for your liking, there are plenty of faster paced choices too. Black Kids, Foals, MIA, Amadou & Mariam and the Mars Volta are all set to ratchet up the noise levels. Elsewhere, the comedy stage boasts the likes of Bill Bailey and Stewart Lee while the literature tent is equally heavyweight; Iain Banks, Hanif Kureishi and Irvine Welsh are all to make an appearance.

That’s why we’re hoping to poke sod’s law in the eye and give year three the benefit of the doubt. And we're not alone - the festival sold out its 25,000 capacity a month ago. Rules, especially unwritten ones, are there to be broken.

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