Diagrams, Toy, The Bees, Andrew Weatherall for Port Eliot Festival

The first names have been announced for this year's Port Eliot Festival held between Thursday 19th and Sunday 22nd July 2012 in the grounds of the Earl of St Germans Cornish estate at Port Eliot in Cornwall.

	The Bees

The first acts announced are Diagrams, Toy, The Bees, Spiro, Gaz Mayall, Cate Le Bon, Grasscut , RSVP, The Urban Voodoo Machine, By The Sea, The See See, Louis Eliot, Geoff Travis, Tim Burgess, Andrew Weatherall, The Schizodelic Sound, Chris Watson's Nature Disco, John Hegley, Stealing Sheep, Rachel Zeffira, Cry Baby, Robert Ellis, 2-Tonic, Mik Artistik, Dalla, Woodland Blue, Gazzo, and Matt Barnard.

Plus music and cabaret from Jeb Loy Nichols, The See See, H.Hawkline, It's Jo & Danny, Spoonful, 50 Degrees Choir, Bayou Bros, Flap!, Grooveyard, The Half Sisters , Hat Fitz and Cara Robinson, Hip Hop Karaoke, Jonah's Lift, Gareth Jones, Jools on Wheels, Maniere des Bohemiens, Sundog, and Jon Hicks.

The first literary names announced are John Cooper Clarke, Jon Ronson, Will Hodgkinson, Jackie Kay, Jessica Hynes, Tracy Chevalier, William Dalrymple, India Knight, Matthew Hollis, Robert MacFarlane, Geoff Dyer, Gavin Pretor-Pinney, Craig Taylor, Laura Beatty, Kate Summerscale, 5x15, Will Fiennes, Ali Smith, Matthew De Abaitua, Chris Yates, Dan Kieran, Dr Mark Vernon, Lucy Cooke, Hugh Warwick, NJ Stevenson, Susanna Hislop, and Robin Harford.

Also confirmed are Tea Ladies on Tour, Johnny Trunk, Pat Long, Marcel Theroux, Tom Hodgkinson, Ben Moor, Sean Borodale, Anna Pavord, Val Bourne and a 70 piece choir Vocal Harem.

Plus there will be cuisine from Peter Gordon William Sitwell Rose Prince Stefan Gates Nathan Outlaw Sam McKnight Sarah Husband Chris Sherville and Fifteen Cornwall.

The Port Eliot Flower Show curated by Michael Howells will give a nod to the traditional village show, with a whole series of distinctive classes, as well as music, performances, gardening discussions and a chance for festivalgoers to scoop the Best-in-Show title. This year’s line-up will include Sean Borodale, Anna Pavord, Val Bourne, Jonathan Drori, Issy Van Randwyck, and Vocal Harem.

The Idler Academy with Tom Hodgkinson will lalso be in attendance offering Frisbee Tree Golf, dolphins and 18t hcentury coffee houses. This year, the Academy lecturers include Dr Mark Vernon giving a mini-course in the Greek philosophers; Boff Whalley of Chumbawamba on fell running and playing the banjo; Dan Kieran discussing his new book, 'The Idle Traveller'; Hugh Warwick on frogs; Lucy Cooke on the habits of the lovable sloth; Latin classes from actress Susanna Hislop; Tom Hodgkinson teaching the ukulele; a minstrels class from Michael Tyack; Robin Harford leading a forage around the festival site; Ben Moor gathering teams for rounds of Frisbee Tree Golf; NJ Stevenson reveal the links between fashion and song; and literary classes for children with the Wicked Young Writers Award.

The festival will also feature wild swimming, the Paradiso Cinema - Starlit screenings with a pecial guest curator who will be revealed shortly. The Wardrobe Department led by Port Eliot fashion curator Sarah Mower, the Five Dials online literary magazine, and The Hullabaloo - Port Eliot's 100-year-old Rhododendron Garden will be transformed into a world of games, drama, imagination, music and treasure hunts as Cornwall's captivating Rogue Theatre invites children to take part in tales of fairies, pirates, witches, giants and elves.

Set in the very same location as the legendary Elephant Fayre, back in the Seventies and Eighties, the festival started up as the Eliot Lit Fest early in the millennium and, in the seven years of its existence, it has come to be regarded as one of the most original, magical, Bohemian events of its kind anywhere in the country.

The festival offers a rich diversity of arts and entertainment encompassing music, literature, poetry, comedy, film and art. Festival-goers can pitch their tents in the stunning grounds of the Port Eliot Estate free included in the entry price or hang out in relative luxury by hiring a yurt or teepee.

Weekend tickets are priced at £144.93 for adults, £72.47 for children (aged 8-15 years inclusive), tickets for children and under 8 years old are free. Campervan tickets are priced at £19.32 per pitch. To buy tickets, click here.

Full weekend ticket holders are able to arrive from 12 midday on Thursday 19th July, giving those festival-goers the chance to discover the most beautiful camping spots, explore the enchanting setting and take in special entertainment laid on in the festival bars dotted around the Estate. The main festival programme will commence at midday on Friday 20th July.

Families are especially welcome at the festival and there's a special supervised kids' area featuring magic and puppet shows where youngsters can create their own stories and artwork while, for teenagers, the Mucking About With Words Tent incorporates slam poetry sessions with DJs, dance and much more besides.

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