The start of September will see the highly-anticipated return of Lindisfarne Festival to Beal Farm in Northumberland.
The festival boasts a number of unique USPs, perhaps the biggest being its gorgeous location. Presenting itself as if located in a liminal space between Newcastle and Edinburgh, the spot overlooking Holy Island itself is described as “the UK’s best-kept-secret festival location” by the fest themselves, mirroring the status of the North East within the wider UK.
One of the other biggest attractions here is the festival’s spot on the calendar, as an end-of-summer party, a celebratory last hurrah on the festival circuit. The transitional time period in which the festival is held, those cleansing, early-setting evenings which are so evocative of fresh starts and new beginnings, pairs perfectly with the mythic qualities which Lindisfarne understandably and expectedly plays up in its design and marketing.
The festival’s bill hops all over the shop, in the best way possible, with an eclectic selection of folk genres and beyond, encompassing a vast array of acts. These are set out across eight very different stages which are all lovingly detailed and each come with their own mission statement.
In its choices of entertainment, Lindisfarne Festival embraces the mysterious, from the folkloric Viking history of its setting through to the supernatural. In addition to music, dance, comedy and magic play their part in generating this atmosphere.
The bill includes many of our local favourites of all shapes and sizes among the hundreds of acts, from Dilutey Juice to Holy Moly &The Crackers. Towards the top of the bill among the household names come Alabama 3, and if you didn’t know Craig Charles is a funk and soul DJ of veteran BBC 6 Music stock, then Lindisfarne offers confirmation.
Towering above are the two headline acts. Groove Armada, standing just outside the Big Four of Big Beat’s 1990s heyday, bring enough cool and cultural capital to slot brilliantly into a festival like this as a top line act, powered in particular by their two mega singles, and constructed from musical influences and styles present all the way through this bill, the way it should be.
Dizzee Rascal, meanwhile, is a curious act as a relic of the original UK grime wave operating in an era of resurgent, world-leading British hip-hop but remains a major live draw capable of upstaging any festival bill he is booked on, hence the top placement here.
For further information and tickets, head to lindisfarnefestival.com.
