A new music festival celebrating the 1990s ‘Cool Britannia’ era will be rocking Knebworth Park this summer.
Twenty-two years after Oasis’ seminal Knebworth gigs, Britpop bands and iconic 90s dance acts will be performing at the Hertfordshire stately home.
The new Cool Britannia festival launches at Knebworth House – the stately home of rock – the weekend after the August Bank Holiday.
Running from Friday, August 31, 2018 to Sunday, September 2, it will feature some of the best of British rock and dance music from the 90s.
The festival’s main stage will be headlined by Happy Mondays and Ocean Colour Scene over the weekend.
Knebworth has staged some of the country’s biggest gigs since the park’s first festival in 1974, with Queen, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Oasis and Robbie Williams all putting on outdoor concerts at the venue.
However, this summer’s Cool Britannia event will be the first major festival at the historic Hertfordshire stately home since Sonisphere in 2014.
Martha Lytton Cobbold, managing director at Lytton Enterprises Ltd, said: “We are delighted to welcome Cool Britannia to Knebworth Park.
“With such a fantastic line-up of era defining acts, this will surely be a great addition to our 44-year history of hosting some truly memorable events.
“We are looking forward to working with the Heartfield Entertainment team over the coming months to bring you a spectacular fun-filled weekend of music.”
Happy Mondays will top the Saturday night bill on the main stage.
Fronted by Shaun Ryder, the ‘Madchester’ band enjoyed huge hits with singles Step On, Kinky Afro and Loose Fit from 1990 album Pills ‘n’ Thrills and Bellyaches.
Ocean Colour Scene will play on the Sunday.
The Day We Caught the Train and The Riverboat Song indie rockers are no strangers to Knebworth, having supported Oasis there back in 1996.
Cool Britannia’s headliners will be supported by a who’s who of bands from the period.
Among the artists confirmed for the festival’s debut line-up are West Yorkshire’s All You Good Good People and Gravity rockers Embrace, who held their own secret festival at Knebworth in 2014, and The Life of Riley and Lucky You alternative rockers The Lightning Seeds.
Also on the bill are Peter Hook & The Light, Liverpool Britpop band Cast, who also supported Oasis at Knebworth, and M People singer Heather Small.
Staying Out for the Summer and Good Enough rockers Dodgy, Liverpool band Space, who are best known for hit singles Female of the Species and The Ballad of Tom Jones, The South, who feature former members of Beautiful South, and Dancing in the Moonlight stars Toploader will also appear, with more acts still to be announced.
The three-day festival will also see the premiere of ‘Britpop Classical’, which will feature a full orchestra together with rock band and guest soloists including The Farm’s Peter Hooton, Republica singer Saffron and Heaven 17’s Glenn Gregory, with others to be announced.
They will be performing unique versions of Britpop classics.
Britpop Classical is due to take place on the Saturday, with The Lightning Seeds, Peter Hook & The Light, Dodgy and Toploader also scheduled to perform on the main stage that day.
The line-up poster has Embrace, Cast, Heather Small, Space and The South playing the main stage on the Sunday in support of Ocean Colour Scene.
Cool Britannia has also teamed up with the legendary Ministry of Sound.
Housed in the Ministry of Sound Big Top, they will feature some of the best club DJs of the era including Todd Terry, Brandon Block, Jazzie B, Dave Pearce and Alfredo.
Each night there will be appearances by a host of club classic stars including Black Box, N-Trance, Rozalla, Alison Limerick, Angie Brown and Urban Cookie Collective.
Outside the rocking arena, Cool Britannia will be tending to the needs of rock and dance music fans with camping, glamping, street food, themed bars, street entertainers, funfairs, a kid-zone, fireworks, trade stands, karaoke and much more.
• Tickets for the new Cool Britannia festival at Knebworth Park will go on sale at 9am on Friday, February 2 via the official festival website www.coolbritanniafest.com
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