The gates have opened at Henham Park near Southwold for the 11th edition of Latitude Festival and campers have set up their tents ready for a weekend of music and arts.
Thousands of festival-goers will enjoy household names such as New Order, The National, The Maccabees as well as comedians Russell Howard and Josh Widdicombe over the weekend.
Southwold mayor Melanie Tucker said: “We are pleased to have Latitude Festival at Henham. Southwold is always busier during the festival and it’s good to see people enjoying themselves on the Suffolk coast.
“As a town council we are delighted there are an increasing number of good quality cultural events to enhance the lives of residents and visitors.”
Other musical artists to perform at the festival include Churches, The Lumineers and Norfolk duo Let’s Eat Grandma.
Since the first Latitude, in 2006, the festival has become renowned for offering an eclectic line-up of performers from across the arts, with organiser Melvin Benn speaking of his pride that Latitude offered “the biggest and most diverse arts line-up of any festival”.
This year will also feature various performances from Sadler’s Wells at the Waterfront Stage and in the poetry arena there will be performances from Hollie McNish and Luke Wright – a former student of the University of East Anglia.
The Literary Arena will see comedian Shappi Khorsandi discuss her debut novel, Nina is Not OK.
Weather
Wellies and brightly-coloured waterproofs are the unofficial festival uniform but if weather forecasters at Norwich-based Weatherquest are correct, the Latitude weekend looks set to be warm and humid with only a small chance of showers.
Tomorrow is set to be sunny and humid with temperatures of up to 23C while Saturday will be warm with intermittent sunny spells but forecasters say there is a 30pc chance of rain with highs of 25C.
On Sunday, there is a 10pc chance of rain with temperatures between 23C and 25C.
Festival highlights
Far more than just a music event Latitude attracts more than 30,000 festival fanatics to Henham Park each year who come to enjoy the festival’s high calibre line-up of national and international talent from across the arts.
Since the first Latitude, in 2006, the festival has developed a reputation as a breeding ground for upcoming talent en route to future acclaim and mainstream success- most notably Arcade Fire, Florence and the Machine, Michael McIntyre and this year’s comedy headliner Josh Widdicombe - who was crowned Latitude New Act of the Year in 2009.
And Latitude 2016 is no exception with a selection of lesser-known acts who are making waves and creating a ‘buzz’ for themselves in their performance industry.
Artists such as Weaves playing the Sunrise Arena today; having released one EP and only playing live for just over a year the band has attracted much attention and were recently chosen Rolling Stone’s “Band to Watch”.
Also performing are Kent-based duo, Slaves, who had a breakthrough year in 2015 with debut album, Are You Satisfied?, gaining Top 10 chart success.
Possessing a live set list filled with full-throttle punk rock riffs combined with sing-a-long anthems such as Cheer Up London and Where’s Your Car Debbie?, they are quickly becoming a crowd favourite and are sure to wow audiences at the BBC 6 Music Stage this afternoon.
The BBC 6 Music Stage will also host Chelmsford rapper, musician – Rat Boy, on Saturday, who will offer his unique social commentary and dissection of life in suburban Britain.
Norfolk’s own musical duo Let’s Eat Grandma will be returing to the festival to perform the Sunrise Arena, this afternoon.
Consisting of best friends Jenny Hollingworth, 17, and Rosa Walton, 17, Let’s Eat Grandma are multi-instrumentalists, possessing a unique sound which is sure to enthral both fans and new listeners at the festival.
While in the Poetry Arena, University of East Anglia graduate, Luke Wright will take to the stage on Saturday.
Following a recent successful appearance at the Southwold Arts Festival, Luke is set to bring a brand new batch of blistering poems filled with humour and satire to entertain and thrill audiences at this year’s festival.
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