first names for new Wilderness Festival

Antony and The Johnsons will make their first live appearance since 2009 at this summer's Wilderness the new event from the organisers of Secret Garden Party and MAMA festivals set to be held at Cornbury Park in Oxfordshire.

This summer frontman Antony Hegarty and company will perform their 'Swanlights' album in the in the surroundings of the ancient Wychwood Forest. Their chamber pop will be joined over the weekend by gypsy punk, folk and reggae.

The Gypsy punk will come from New York City outfit Gogol Bordello. The gifted singer-songwriter Laura Marling will be bringing her brand of folk to Wilderness, performing both her albums 'Alas, I Cannot Swim' and 'I Speak Because I Can' solo.

Also confirmed are the legendary Jamaican ska and reggae legends Toots and the Maytals, indie rockers Guillemots, and Hayseed Dixie bringing their unique musical genre 'Rockgrass', a blend of bluegrass and rock music, to Wilderness. There are still many more acts to be announced.

Tim Harvey, Wilderness Festival organiser said, "Wilderness is a concept that, together, we've been planning for nearly six years now. It's as much a weekend retreat in one of England's ancient landscapes as it is an outdoor arts spectacular. It's a long overdue addition to the UK's world-class roster of summer shows and a genuinely different type of festival for all different age groups – young and old. The organisers have really focused their curatorial powers on creating experiences and activities that are designed specifically for the Cornbury Park site. In many cases, these performances and happenings just wouldn't be possible anywhere else.

"When we started, we wanted to broaden out the established offering of most festivals and introduce many more cultural, lifestyle and artisan aspects to the event – the kind of programming that the Edinburgh Festival, Hay-on-Wye and Taste of London have become so renowned for. But the really exciting bit has been working out how these kinds of theatre, food and literary happenings could work in a place as wonderfully remote as the Cornbury Park site and the surrounding Wychwood forest. We'll have to wait and see whether it becomes a new benchmark in the summer calendar but it will certainly be reflective of the variety and quality of the partners and talent involved."

The family-friendly Wilderness, is being held from Friday 12th until Sunday 14th August and intends to bring together "music, food, learning, literature and rejuvenation". Festival goers will be able to experience Madonna's former private chef Skye Gyngell cook up a banquet for 800 people every day along with Sam & Sam Clark from Moro restaurant.

Partners for the festival include The Old Vic Tunnels making their first festival outing curating a full program of theatre & performance, including the Tax Deductible Theatre Company, plus Intelligence Squared– the forum for live debate, The Idler magazine devoted to the ethos of 'idling', Bristol's Institute of Natural History– leading nature walks and talks, and Headspace the meditation project aimed to demystify meditation and make it more accessible to the mainstream.

Early bird adult weekend camping tickets are priced at £99.50. Early Bird family tickets (two adults, two children) are priced at £250, children aged 10 years and younger go free. To buy tickets click here.

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