Rhythm Festivals '12

Rhythm Festivals offers three days of three festivals in one plus a host of 'fringe events', will return for its seventh year over August bank holiday, from Friday 24th until Sunday 26th August 2012 at Mansion House, Old Warden Park, near Biggleswade, in Bedfordshire.

Line-up

Friday

Rhythm Festival: Hawkwind, The Slackers (USA), The Beat, Three Bonzos & A Piano, The Men They Couldn't Hang, Eddie & The Hot Rods, Swans in Flight.
Rhythm Folk: Peatbog Faeries, Jim Moray Band, Lucy Ward, Jamie Smith's Mabon.
Rhythm & Blues: Wilko Johnson, Geno Washington & Yo-Yo Blues, Buick 6, Mitch Laddie Band.

Saturday

Rhythm Festival: Booker T, The Damned, Ardal O'Hanlon, Denis Alcapone (Jamaica), King Mob, The GRoundhogs, Here & Now, The Captain Sensible Band, Hank Wangford & The Lost Cowboys, The Magic Tombolinos, Virgil & The Accelerators, The Barker Band, Leatherat, Pearl Handled Revolver.
Rhythm Folk: The Strawbs, The Ian McMillan Orchestra, Richard Digance, David Knopfler, Travelling Band, Wishing Well (Aus), Faeries Wear Boots
Rhythm & Blues: The Blues Band, Big Boy Bloater, Chantel McGregor, Dave Kelly, Lucy Zirins

Sunday

Rhythm Festival: Ken Boothe (Jamaica), John Cooper Clarke, Crazy World of Arthur Brown, David Rodigan, Boomtown Rats, John Otway Big Band, Delroy Williams & The Junction Band, Mystery Juice, King Hammond, Macavity's Cat, Attila The Sockbroker, Barnstormer, Intensified, Big 10.
Rhythm Folk: Show of Hands featuring Miranda Sykes, Lau, Scott Matthews, The Moulettes, Katriona Gilmore & Jamie Roberts, Damh The Bard
Rhythm & Blues: Oli Brown Band, Hat Fitz & Cara, Michael Messer & The Second Mind Band, Crosstown Lightnin' (featuring Charles Shaar Murray), Cherry Lee Mewis, Bare Bones Boogie Band.

Rhythm Festival becomes Rhythm Festivals in 2012, with artists appearing across three areas for the first time offering Rhythm Folk, Rhythm Blues, and Rhythm Roots, plus comedy and "fringe events".

Tickets

An early bird adult all events weekend ticket is priced at £99 (includes free youth/ child when bought together) with additional youth/child (aged 5-17 years) tickets priced at £60. Infants (under 5 years) are free when accompanied by adult ticket-holders. Camping and accommodation extra.

An early bird Folk Festival or Blues Festival Pass only pass (bought before 31/05/12) is priced at £70, with youth/child (aged 5-17 years) tickets priced at £35.

Camping is priced at £36 per tent, a caravan/campervan ticket is priced at £50, and a single room with 3 nights basic student accommodation with bed & breakfast (one person only) is priced at £75.

Tickets are on sale for individual events priced at £70 for the weekend for adults or £35 for an extra child.

To buy tickets, click here.

More info

The Rhythm Festival is to have 2 stages: Big Rhythms and Happy Rhythms whilst the two new events, Rhythm Folk and Rhythm & Blues will each have their own areas, dominated by two huge big-top stages. Camping and lots of other attractions will be shared.

New this year and available to ticket-holders for all three Rhythm Festivals are Fringe Theatre performances in the The Old Dick Theatre and an extensive programme of Literary & Poetry Events. Comedy (again programmed by Jesterlarf Comedy Club of Cambridge) will return in 2012 as will other old Rhythm favourites, including the Groovy Movie Picture House (free solar-powered cinema), DJ Wheelie Bag in the Tavern Bar and more children's entertainment, including Panic Circus and the Junior (London) Olympics. Many more new attractions, and big name acts for these attractions will be added in the coming weeks.

Ethos

Rhythm Festival aims to be different from other outdoor music festivals, by being smaller (a capacity of under 5,000), friendlier and geared towards the festival goer. There's a kid's field (including things like mini olympics, workshops, entertainers and Panic Circus), a healing/alternative culture field, and a comedy stage.

Amenities

The festival has a general store, as well as a large variety of high quality food at sensible prices. Plus, real ales, beers & lagers from the Pot Belly Brewery, Wells & Young's of Bedford as well as guest ales, and real ciders.

The festival site is semi-permanent, and includes flush toilets (augmented by portaloos), and proper roads and pathways. The arena is a drained grassy amphitheatre and many attractions are housed indoors. Showers have been hired for the (supervised) campsites and there'll be free car parking adjacent to the festival site.

More details will be here when available.