The Great Escape looks to the Baltics for talent

Each year The Great Escape partners with a country, and this year organisers have announced they will be joining forces with Music Export Latvia and The Lithuanian Music Business Association as their lead international partners for 2016.

So expect the Baltic's most exciting musical offerings to make the journey to the south coast to join up with 400+ bands performing in more than 35 venues spread across Brighton over the course of three days.These include Without Letters, Alina Orlova, Carnival Youth, and Howling Owl.

Vaidas Stackevicius, director of Lithuanian Music Business Association said, "The Great Escape caught us by surprise offering to focus on our countries, we hadn’t expected it to happen so quickly! But this is what The Great Escape is all about; discovering new talents, exploring new territories and delivering surprises. We are very proud and look forward to being the lead country focus together with Latvia at the festival for new music."

Agnese Cimuska, CEO of Music Export Latvia said, "The Great Escape was one of the first music industry events Music Export Latvia started to take part. It was only 3 years ago and now to be one of the focus countries shows that we have made our mark very quickly. It was possible because of the open-minded people working at The Great Escape. We appreciate their trust in us, our industries and talents."

The Great Escape’s lead international partnerships have enabled new and emerging artists from some of the most exciting music markets in the world to showcase their talents in front of the festivals internationally diverse audience of industry and festival goers. The Great Escape has welcomed previous lead international partners including United Kingdom (2015), Finland (2014), Poland (2013), Catalonia & The Balearic Islands (2012), Ireland (2011), Australia (2010), New Zealand (2009), Norway (2008), France (2007) and Canada (2006).

Organisers have also announced another new partnership with Raindance Film Festival at Brighton’s Bosco Theatre which will host screenings of a selection of new music films, including 'Suede: Night Thoughts', with an additional Q&A between the films’ director Roger Sargent, actor Alex Wilton and Suede frontman Brett Anderson, and 'Big Gold Dream: Scottish Post-Punk And Infiltrating The Mainstream', a celebration of post-punk rock looking back at the movement in Scotland featuring a conversation between director Grant McPhee and post-punk label creator Bob Last, as well as Douglas Hart founder of The Jesus and Mary Chain. In addition Raindance will be running a Short Film Competition encouraging ‘would be’ film makers to capture what music, film and Brighton means to them. Five finalist films will be selected by an illustrious judging panel to be screened exclusively at Raindance Film Festival 2016, with one winner receiving £1,000 in credit to be redeemed against any of Raindance’s film training courses.

The festival will be launching ‘The Late Escape’ programme focussing on the best upcoming DJs and producers with nights hosted by Ninja Tune and Decked Out.

The this new strand will expand the bill even further of a line-up which already includes The Joy Formidable, Mystery Jets, Oh Wonder, Mura Masa, KLOE, Shura, Vant, Will Joseph Cook, Black Honey, Formation, Craig David's TS5, Eagulls, Money, Eska, Porches, Rag n Bone Man, Stormzy, Songhoy Blues, Fatoumata Diawara, Inheaven, Blossoms, Band Of Skulls, Samm Henshaw, Michael Kiwanuka, Nadia Reid, A J Tracey, Actor, Alec Benjamin, Alice Phoebe Lou, Anna Meredith, Anna Of The North, Anteros, Anthonie Tonnon, Ariana & The Rose, Astrid S, Avelino, Babe, Banners, Beaty Heart, Black Peaches, Bleached, Bo Rocha, Callum Beattie, Cameron Ag, Catholic Action, Causes, Chastity, Chastity Belt, Cigarettes After Sex, Coves, D Double E, Dead!, Depresno, Diet Cig, Dolores Haze, Dreller, Egyptian Blue, Elf Kid, Elifantree, Frisco, George Taylor, Georgie, Grumble Bee, Have You Ever Seen The Jane Fonda Aerobic Vhs?, Her, Iglooghost, Jacob Collier, Jain, James Canty, Jammz, Joseph J. Jones, Jr Green, Kate Jackson And The Wrong Moves, Khruangbin, Kiko Bun, K-X-P, Lady Leshurr, Lewis Del Mar, Little Hours, Logan Sama, Lusts, Mabel, Mai Kino, Makeness, Man & The Echo, Matthew Logan Vasquez, Mossy, Mumdance, Muncie Girls, Nadia Rose, Ouzo Bazooka, Pink Oculus, Postaal, Postiljonen, Rømans, Royce Wood Junior, Ruth Koleva, Ry X, Shannon & The Clams, Søren Juul, Spring King, St Lucia, Stephanie Rainey, Sudakistan, Teleman, Ten Fé, The Big Moon, The Prettiots, Tim Vantol, Transviolet, Type Two Error, Uniiqu3, Vitamin, Wesley Gonzalez, William Singe, Willie J Healey, Yorkston Thorne Khan, Youth Club, and many more acts showcased at venues all over Brighton. The dates are confirmed as Thursday 19th until Saturday 21st May 2016.

In total 400+ bands will be announced, performing in more than 35 venues spread across Brighton over the course of three days.

For more details see The Great Escape line-up page.

In its eleven year history, The Great Escape has quickly established itself as an international platform for new talent, with over 30 countries represented throughout the three-day programme.

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Early bird tickets are available priced at £59.50. A 3-day Festival ticket gives you access to the core venues, subject to each venues capacity. As in previous years, a small number of our shows will take place at The Dome in Brighton. The line-up for these shows will be announced early next year. To ensure guaranteed access to Dome Shows, attendees will be able to top up their festival wristband for a small fee, or purchase separate gig tickets.

As well as the live music, there's also a number of "Parkinson" style interviews with luminaries from the world of Music and Media, to show the way in which success is achieved, as well as educational panels, workshops and networking sessions. The UK's premiere music business convention, is a place for music industry professionals from across the world to exchange knowledge, ideas, contacts and business.

Delegate passes are priced at £100. To buy delegates tickets now, click here.

The venues are all a close walk from each other with each venue equipped to an international showcase standard.

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