MUSIC
This year, Greenbelt will offer festival goers the richest and most diverse cultural programme available anywhere on the UK festival circuit in what will be a triumphant celebration of the arts, music, justice, tolerance and community. Critically acclaimed South London artist, Speech Debelle will bring her soulful and raw blend of poetic and powerful rhymes to the Greenbelt mainstage, combining tracks from her Mercury Music Prize-winning album with the recently released new album ‘Freedom of Speech’. With her devotion to politics and social issues and musically inspired by the likes of Michael Jackson, Tracy Chapman and Meshell Ndegeocello, this South London wonder is the perfect act to join the Greenbelt party this summer.

Canadian-born Bruce Cockburn brings his ever-evolving folk brilliance to Greenbelt’s Friday mainstage. Having been compared to the likes of Neil Young and Joni Mitchell, Cockburn is known for his virtuoso guitar playing and powerful political lyrics including hits “If I Had A Rocket Launch” plus “Wondering Where The Lions Are”. Joining Cockburn, fellow folk sensation Seth Lakeman will bring his bow-shedding violin riffs and driving tenor guitar rhythms, creating a magical atmospheric vibe filled with charismatic and passionate energy. Bellowhead will perform for the first time at Greenbelt with their “full throttle…rare and exhilarating” (Q Magazine) live showcase, rousing crowds to their feet in what is set to be a sensational performance. Described by the Daily Mirror as “one of the country’s greatest live outfits”, the 11-piece collective are previous winners of the Best Live Performance award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards and have recently returned from their sell-out UK tour. Audiences should prepare to dance like they’ve never danced before!

Further additions to the line-up include BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards winners The Imagined Village plus “hot property” (The Guardian) folk revival band Megson with their infectious sounds and heavenly vocals, lush harmonies and driving rhythmic guitars. Thomas Traux will stun festival goers by using his bespoke inventions of strange self-made instruments in a surprising spectacle. Last but by no means least for the festivals music stage, Brooklyn-based, multi-instrumentalist and former member of American indie rock band The Hold Steady, Franz Nicolay, who is famed for combining the accordion and piano in unique way, will be making his debut at Greenbelt in 2012.

KEYNOTES & SPEAKERS
Greenbelt cements its firm reputation as offering much more than any other festival experience in the UK by today announcing the first of its speaker programme. Former University lecturer Dr. Andrew Tate joins the festival to discuss his reflective interest in postmodern fiction, theory and spirituality, Professor Mary Grey will offer insight into her vast knowledge of Feminist Liberation Theology and Spiritualities, Editor of New Humanist and former music journalist Caspar Melville will also be part of the 2012 offering.

Esteemed lecturer in philosophy and author of several books on the modern world, Giles Fraser will speak at Greenbelt and after his recent, highly publicised departure from St Paul’s in October 2011, Fraser is an exciting addition to the speaker programme. Nationally acclaimed magician and author Mark Townsend will be part of the 2012 bill using his magic and mind-reading to unlock people’s inner wonder. This astonishing, slightly unsettling but life-affirming act is not to be missed.

The “articulate, charismatic…and sophisticated operator” (Daily Telgraph) that is Rose Hudson Wilkin, who is tipped as the leading contender to become Church of England’s first female bishop joins Greenbelt’s speaker programme. Having fought for equal rights throughout her life, Wilkin’s talk will be both engaging and thoughtful revealing what it’s really like to live a double life in a parish where gang members roam, contrasted to her time spent as Chaplain to the Speaker of the House of Commons. Ruth Gledhill will also speak and as a prestigious and longstanding correspondent for The Times, her appearance at Greenbelt will be both informative and tantalising.

Reverend Richard Coles, broadcaster, writer and priest, is best known for being one half of 1980s band The Communards who enjoyed three UK Top Ten hits including ‘Don’t Leave Me This Way’ and ‘Never Can Say Goodbye’. Coles’ multi-talented reputation meant he was an obvious addition to Greenbelt’s diverse offering. Radical partner of The Simple Way, Shane Claiborne will also engage audiences with his fascinating experiences ranging from spending ten weeks alongside Mother Theresa in Calcutta to his recent three weeks spent in Baghdad with the Iraq Peace Team. Plus BBC Radio 2 Presenter Simon Mayo will be speaking about his debut children’s book Itch, a fantastic action-packed thriller. A sure hits with the kids at Greenbelt this year.

THEATRE & COMEDY
Greenbelt is excited to be welcoming OperaUpClose, the boutique opera company who will be bringing their experimental but hugely popular sell-out production of La Bohème to the festival. Having wowed audiences and reviewers alike and recently awarded the prestigious accolade of the 2011 Olivier Award for Best Opera Production, OperaUpClose unique approach to their discipline firmly embraces the thos of Greenbelt.

Kevin Tomlinson’s Kepow Theatre returns to Greenbelt for a show-stopping performance of improvisation and comedic hilarity. Having received five star reviews at Edinburgh Festival this year followed by a sell out tour, this is one show not to be missed, while fellow award-winner Tayo Aluko will also perform in the play “Call Mr Robeson” accompanied by an orchestra propelling his unusual baritone voice across the fields.

“We’re thrilled to announce the first names to Greenbelt’s 2012 Programme. With such diverse acts from the likes of Speech Debelle, OperaUpClose and Bellowhead, this year’s offering really does set Greenbelt aside from others on the festival calendar. This year we’ve developed the line-up to offer credible acts from around the world showcasing the best in the arts, music, visual and performing arts, comedy, talks and discussion. We look forward to seeing you in the field.”Paul Northup, Festival Director.

Greenbelt 2012 – Saving Paradise – takes place 24th-27th August on Cheltenham Racecourse. Celebrating 39 years on the festival calendar, year-on-year over 20,000 people enjoy the fantastic offering. Delivering a rich and diverse programme, Greenbelt committed to its support of the arts while encouraging and embracing the values of tolerance, dialogue, justice, faith and hope. A festival that gives so much, Greenbelt provides all that attend with a spellbound and life-affirming experience.

Tickets are now available from the Greenbelt festival website or via 020 7374 276. Prices are fixed until 30th April 2012 and adult weekend tickets are £99.00; adult concession weekend tickets are £68.00; under 18 weekend tickets (5 to 17 years) are £55.00; family weekend tickets (2 Adults, 2 Under 18s) are £259.00; single parent family weekend tickets (1 Adult, 2 Under 18s) are £165.00 and infants (0-4 years) go for free.

With a quarter of a century having since passed, rock legends Queen are to return to play a second concert at the venue that provided them with the setting for one of their biggest and most historic concerts.

Queen’ Brian May and Roger Taylor today confirmed the band will headline the second day of this year’s Sonisphere Festival appearing at the festival home ground Knebworth Park, Stevenage, on Saturday July 7.

Knebworth was the setting for Queen’s final concert with Freddie Mercury in August 1986.

May and Taylor also confirmed that for this special one-off concert they will be joined by US singer-songwriter Adam Lambert.

Since first encountering each other during American Idol Season 8 in May 2009 where Lambert joined the band to perform We Are the Champions the two have repeatedly hinted at a future collaboration, most recently with Taylor telling Billboard Magazine “He (Adam) has grown into a really great performer with an astonishing voice with a range that’s great. We would like to work with him again. There’s nothing signed just yet but …it could be very exciting.”

After their brief meeting on American Idol, the potent chemistry between Queen and Lambert finally broke the surface when at the invitation of Queen’s Brian May and Roger Taylor Lambert joined them for the closing showcase at the recent MTV Europe Awards where Queen were present to collect their Global Icon award.

Their eight minute MTVE set ignited an immediate reaction across the internet with social network sites buzzing with excitement and campaigning for a more formal union between Queen and Lambert. The Sonisphere 2012 Knebworth stage will at last provide an eager public the opportunity to see May, Taylor and Lambert delve deeper into exploring their very evident artistic appreciation of one another.

Says Brian May: “Judging by my incoming mail, this decision will make a lot of people very happy. It’s a worthy challenge for us, and I’m sure Adam would meet with Freddie’s approval! And what better place to revisit, and walk those emotional paths than Knebworth? It will be a rush.”

Lambert adds: “I’m completely in awe of the Queen phenomenon. The thought of sharing the stage for a full set is so beautifully surreal. I’m honoured to be able to pay my respects to Freddie’s memory. He’s a personal hero of mine and I am deeply grateful for the chance to sing such powerful music for fans of this legendary band. I know the evening will be a huge milestone for me, and with the support of Brian, Roger and the rest of the band I know magic will be on display.”

Queen’s previous performance at Knebworth Park, close on twenty-six years ago ,  August 9, 1986, was set up to be the glorious last stop for the band’s monstrously successful Magic Tour which had spread out across Europe over eight weeks of that summer.  Over a million people had already paid to see them.

Now riding one of the highest crests in their career, Queen drew a record crowd of 120,000, their biggest ever UK audience.  Coming on the back of two stunning shows at Wembley Stadium – to this day regarded as among their finest performances – anticipation was high.

Queen delivered the goods, winding up the crowd by arriving above their heads in a custom decorated helicopter, and then going on to perform a Queen textbook set to a deliriously enthusiastic audience, winding up with an emotional ‘God Save the Queen’ and Freddie wishing his audience ‘sweet dreams’.

What no-one in that Knebworth Park audience, and as far as we know, not even the band could anticipate that day, was that a new chapter in Queen’s history was being written: after more than 700 concerts together, what was taking place was the very last live concert of Freddie Mercury with Queen.

With the exception of an appearance in 1988 with Spanish operatic soprano Montserrat Caballe to launch Barcelona’s successful bid for the 1992 Olympic Games performing their duet ‘Barcelona’, Mercury would never again be seen performing to a public audience.

On what will undoubtedly rate as one of this summer’s most highly anticipated and emotionally charged concerts Queen’s Roger Taylor says: “I remember Knebworth as being the most incredible gig, with the most amazing audience and the sound on stage was utterly perfect. It was a fitting last stand before a live audience for Freddie. It will be a real challenge to complete the circle by returning with Adam.”

Shooting rockets. Blood spitting. Face Paint. Shiny Boots and utterly jaw dropping triumphant live shows: SONISPHERE is proud to announceKISS as Friday’s headliner. With a reputation for being perhaps the most flamboyant and entertaining band on the planet, the American Kings will bring their stage extravaganza to SONISPHERE as their only European performance of 2012.

For the final, Sunday night, SONISPHERE KNEBWORTH is proud to announce the legendary FAITH NO MORE as the headline act on the APOLLO stage. Mike Bordin, Roddy Bottum, Bill Gould, Jon Hudson and Mike Patton are poised to set KNEBWORTH on fire when they close the last night at SONISPHERE with their only UK appearance in 2012. Of their set Gould comments:“It was over 2 years ago when we decided to reform and play those amazing UK shows. The good news is, we’ve had a couple of years to improve our skills; moving our song to error ratio down 3.5 full percentage points. Watch out UK, we’re going to do it right this time!!”  

Joining the three superb headliners are some of the biggest names from the world of rock and metal including:

WITHIN TEMPTATION - only UK show of 2012, EVANESCENCE - only UK show of 2012,THE DARKNESS,INCUBUS - only UK show of 2012, MARILYN MANSON – only UK show of 2012, ANDREW WK - only UK festival show of 2012, REFUSED - only UK show of 2012,MASTODON - only UK festival show of 2012, THE BLACKOUT and more.

As well as the exciting names from the world of rock, SONISPHERE once again shows it’s forward thinking nature, and invites musician/comedian TIM MINCHIN to headline the Saturday night on SATURN. Since his first appearance at SONISPHERE back in 2010 theTIM’s success has gone from strength to strength, resulting in his first UK arena tour, his first West End Musical (Matilda The Musical) and numerous high profile TV appearances. After the astounding success of Bill Bailey’s SATURN slot last year, TIM - with full backing band in tow – is bound to deliver a much talked about and highly memorable show atSONISPHERE.

Tickets on sale to the public from 9:00am Thursday 23^rd February fromwww.sonispherefestivals.com / 0844 871 8803priced at £145 for a weekend ticket (£180 with 4-day camping, £170 with 3-day camping), with a very limited number of day tickets available for £75.

To spread the cost of the festival customers can pay a non-refundable deposit of £50 to secure their weekend tickets and then pay the balance off anytime before 30^th April 2011.

SONISPHERE KNEBWORTHtakes place July 6th – 8th at KNEBWORTH HOUSE.

On top of the host of talent on offer at SONISPHERE KNEBWORTH, organisers are offering the first weekend ticket buyers a very limited number of tickets to SONISPHERE MADRID, which takes place 25^th and 26^th May. Headliners METALLICA - who play their Black album in its entirety – are joined by an impressive cast featuring the likes of SOUNDGARDEN, andSLAYER and many more. Two Sonisphere festivals for the price of one!

www.sonispherefestivals.com
LINE UP SO FAR:

Headline sets from:

KISS (European Exclusive) – QUEEN (World Exclusive) – FAITH NO MORE (UK Exclusive)- TIM MINCHIN

ANDREW WK *
THE BLACKOUT
CYPRESS HILL
EVANESCENCE**
FIELDS OF THE NEPHILIM
FLOGGING MOLLY *
GHOST *
GOJIRA *
I KILLED THE PROM QUEEN
INCUBUS**
KATATONIA *
LACUNA COIL *
MARILYN MANSON**
MASTODON *
REFUSED**
SWITCHFOOT *
THE DARKNESS
WITHIN TEMPTATION **
WOLFMOTHER **

*denotes exclusive festival appearance
**denotes only UK show of 2012