Bluedot adds Air, Krysko, Lanterns on the Lake, and Be play One

Leading the new additions is Air who will be supporting Jean-Michel Jarre on Saturday night at the new festival, Bluedot taking place at Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre from Friday 22nd to Sunday 24th July 2016.

Also joining Saturday’s bill are Krysko, and on Sunday Marc Riley, whilst the Main Stage will also host Lanterns on the Lake who will teamed up with Royal Northern Sinfonia for a unique collaboration where the band play material from their albums accompanied by the orchestra.

Bluedot will also present a brand new artwork by Brian Eno, designed specifically for Jodrell Bank. The unique projection piece will be displayed across the Lovell Telescope which for the duration of the festival will be in the zenith position.

Elsewhere the Orbit Stage will host Be play One a unique live collaboration between an artist, a scientist, half of Spiritualized and 40,000 real life bees. The performance inspired by the plight of the honeybee was described by The Guardian as a 'transcendental drone symphony between man and bee'.

Bluedot have also announced a specially curated, science-flavoured comedy bill including Helen Keen and her 'It Is Rocket Science' stand-up show, Helen Arney and Steve Mould from 'Festival of the Spoken Nerd', Dr. Steve Cross' cabaret 'Science Showoff', James Veitch's 'Dot Con' show that charts his correspondence with a host email scammers and con artists, live & interactive comedy game show 'Wifi Wars' (take a charged smartphone!) and 'Foxdog Studios' surreal and interactive show. Robin Ince, Tiernan Douieb, and Adam Kay will also be bringing the cosmic comedy. Plus previously confirmed was Radio 4's The Infinite Monkey Cage with Prof. Brian Cox and Robin Ince will be recording an episode at the festival.

They join Jean Michel Jarre, Underworld, and Caribou, headline plus Everything Everything, Public Service Broadcasting, Mercury Rev, Steve Mason, 65daysofstatic, and British Sea Power, Moon Duo, Beyond The Wizards Sleeve, Ben UFO, DJ Yoda, Gwenno, Lonelady, Stealing Sheep, Dutch Uncles, Galaxians, Aziz & Dal, The Lucid Dream, Sundara Karma, Plastic Mermaids, Let.s Eat Grandma, Nai Harvest, The Vryll Society, Post War Glamour Girls, Cowtown, Mi Mye, Hot Vestry, Rhain, The Watchmakers, Sympathiser, and Body Clocks, with many more still to be announced. 

A full science and 'Cosmic Culture' programme will offer an array of talent from across the scientific, literary and arts communities with five distinct arenas featuring space orchestras, talks, screenings, lectures, comedy and debates and a vast spectrum of hands-on activities including the Luminarium, art installations, robot workshops, a planetarium, the Galaxy Garden, pulsar hunting, graphene making classes and much more. 

Families will also be well catered for at bluedot with a fun-filled line-up of contemporary and classic entertainment. TV show The Clangers will be treating audiences to swanee whistles, storytelling, guest appearances and a few surprises…

Additionally the Contact Stage, will be home to science and space-related authors and presenters. These include 'First Light' a celebration of sci-fi author Alan Garner. Hosted by Erica Wagner, editor of 'First Light', a new anthology celebrating Garner's work, and the Stone Books author will be making an extremely rare appearance at Bluedot, to sign books.

Andrew Smith, author of 'Moondust: in Search of Men Who Fell to Earth', will be talking about his experience of tracking down every astronaut who walked on moon between 1969 and 1972, and how if effected them. Andrew will also be talking about meeting the people who have signed up for a one-way ticket to Mars, as part of the Mars One project.

The Science Garden will be home to a performance of 'Urban Astronaut' - a new direction in physical theatre providing a glimpse of a future that might be...where problems surrounding air pollution have grown to a crisis point, is there any way back? Combining stunning design and a unique travelling flying machine with simple storytelling and a moving dance performance that appeals to all ages, Urban Astronaut searches for a solution to the environmental disaster that is present in our near future.

The festival will also host 'Hello Moon Can you Hear Me?' an audio-visual exploration of the universe featuring signals from spacecraft at the dawn of the space age, the death throes of an exploding star and the sounds which flooded through the universe after the Big Bang. 

Music producers Jim Spencer and David Tolan have been working with astrophysicist Tim O'Brien to remix sounds from space creating a unique record released on the O Genesis label. The title 'Hello Moon' echoes the recording of a voice bounced off the Moon made more than 50 years ago right here at Jodrell Bank.

Gourmets can also expect to find the 'Restaurant at The End of The Universe' where chef Aiden Byrne has created a stratospheric seven-course menu especially for the event, which takes diners on a space odyssey, navigating an entire cosmos of experimental tastes. Inspired by intergalactic travel and exploration, the chef has taken his cues from astronomy, the cosmos and futurism, with rehydrated and freeze-dried meals normally found on manned missions being replaced by gourmet courses that celebrate space exploration and science. Tickets are strictly limited to 400, are on sale now and expected to sell out fast.

Bluedot organiser Ben Robinson said, "The programme just gets better from a line-up of incredible live artists and DJs to gourmet restaurants to some of the UK’s best comedy talent. Bluedot is shaping up to be a very special event indeed and we still have much, much more to announce across the board including the full science, tech, film and gaming programme. It is quite literally a festival like no-other on the planet."

Bluedot is supported by the UK Space Agency and the EuroScience Open Forum (ESOF), Europe’s largest interdisciplinary science meeting taking place for the first time in Manchester 23-27 July 2016.

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Weekend camping tickets are priced at £129, weekend camping for youth aged 11-15 years are priced at £69, weekend camping for child aged 6-10 years are priced at £19, weekend camping for child aged 5 years and under are priced at £10. Live in vehicle is priced at £69, a weekend car park ticket is £20. Adult Friday day ticket £35, Adult Saturday day ticket £49, Adult Sunday day ticket £49, and any day child aged 6-15 years are priced at £25, and dasy tickets for child aged 5 years and under are free. A one day car park ticket is £10.

Full access to the magnificent Discovery centre is included with each ticket,and offers a chance to find out more about the mind-blowing research happening at Jodrell Bank. Explore the wonders of the universe and find out for yourself why stargazing has enjoyed a massive resurgence in the past few years.

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