17th – 20th July 2008

Henham Park , Southwold, Suffolk

Latitude announce the BBC RADIO 4 ARENA

*JUST A MINUTE*

featuring NICHOLAS PARSONS, ROSS NOBLE & PHILL JUPITUS

*LOOSE ENDS*

featuring PETER CURRAN & GUILLEMOTS

*STORIES WITH LATITUDE *

featuring JOHN HEGLEY & LUCY PORTER,

with more to be announced

*THE NOW SHOW*

with Steve Punt, Hugh Dennis, Marcus Brigstocke and Mitch Benn

*POETRY PLEASE*

featuring ROGER McGOUGH

*BROADCASTING HOUSE*

Presented by MARTHA KEARNEY

*BESPOKEN WORD*

featuring MISTER GEE

*WRITERSROOM*

Latitude is delighted to announce the involvement of BBC Radio 4 at the festival for another year of exciting and cutting edge programming. This year there will be a dedicated BBC Radio 4 Arena on the main site bringing you a selection of the station’s shows, featuring celebrity guests and broadcasts direct from Henham Park .

Nicholas Parsons will be hosting the devious panel game Just a Minute featuring Ross Noble and Phill Jupitus among others. Just a Minute will take place on Friday and Saturday afternoon and will be full of hilarious moments as celebrity guests attempt to talk on a subject for sixty seconds without hesitation, repetition or deviation. A lot harder than it sounds!

BBC Radio 4’s Loose Ends returns to Latitude where there will be another chance to be part of the audience for the award winning programme known for its eclectic mix of live music, stand-up comedy and conversation.  Peter Curran will be joined by Emma Freud and festival friends with music from Guillemots amongst others. 

Stories with Latitude will feature specially selected speakers from the Arts Arenas including Lucy Porter as well as performance poet John Hegley. Each celebrity reader will read a short story specially commissioned for Latitude. Catch one of these exclusive readings on Friday and Sunday afternoon in the BBC Radio 4 Arena.

Poetry Please has been showcasing some of the greatest names in poetry during its 25 years on the radio. Contemporary poets such as Simon Armitage and Wendy Cope are regularly featured alongside Thomas Hardy, William Blake and William Shakespeare. Long standing host and much loved poet Roger McGough will be hosting a special live edition of the show in the BBC Radio 4 Arena on Sunday afternoon.

Early birds arriving on Thursday will be treated to a special edition of cult comedy sketch programme The Now Show, featuring Steve Punt, Hugh Dennis, Marcus Brigstocke and Mitch Benn. Discussing everything from politicians to Z list celebrities, the show’s twisted look at the week’s news is not to be missed so get to Latitude early and catch one of the funniest radio shows around on Thursday evening. 

Broadcasting House is the perfect accompaniment to a relaxing Sunday morning with its satirical look at the week’s news. Regular humorous features including an award-winning weekly competition to win a honeyspoon. Whilst covering the serious topics of the week and main news headlines, Broadcasting House offers a fresh perspective on current affairs and the world in which we live. Broadcasting House will be presented live by special guest presenter Martha Kearney.

The cutting edge hip hop poetry and spoken word programme Bespoken Word comes to Latitude with a pick of this year's finest performance poets, hosted by hot new poet and presenter Mister Gee.  Originally a Hip Hop DJ, Mister Gee went on to host the renowned performance poetry club "Brix-Tongue" and is now a well known voice on the growing performance poetry scene, appearing nightly in London’s West End as the Poet in Into The Hoods  and the resident poet on BBC Radio 2’s The Russell Brand Show.  The series was nominated for the Sony Awards in 2004 and the recording will take place on Saturday afternoon in the BBC Radio 4 Arena. 

On Sunday afternoon, get yourself up and inspired by a session with Kate Rowland of writersroom, exploring the writer's journey across radio, television and film at the BBC! The BBC Radio 4 Arena offers a unique opportunity to be involved in some of the best radio programming around so don’t miss out!

ELSEWHERE AT LATITUDE:

Headlining this year’s event on the Obelisk Arena, Scottish art-rock heroes Franz Ferdinand play their only English festival show exclusively at Latitude on the Friday night; the majestic and soaring Icelandic post-rock outfit Sigur Rós head up Saturday’s line-up and New York titans Interpol close the arena on the Sunday with their unique brand of powerful and atmospheric inventive indie rock. Friday night over on the Uncut Arena will see an incredibly special performance from “Africa’s funkiest band” (Evening Standard), the remarkable Amadou and Mariam and throughout the rest of the weekend the Obelisk and Uncut Arenas will host stunning performances from Nick Cave’s Grinderman, the beautiful poetry of Martha Wainwright, epic musicians The Mars Volta, the charming Death Cab for Cutie, the superb Elbow, legendary alt rockers The Breeders, legendary performer Julian Cope  and grime, hip-hop, electro pop queen, M.I.A.

Boasting four Music Arenas, the Obelisk, Uncut, Sunrise and The Lake Stage span a wide range of genres and music hand-picked especially for the festival; bands and artists are chosen with the essence of Latitude in mind. More established bands play in harmony alongside the freshest new acts and with so much more to be announced – it only gets better!

But of course, Latitude is so much more than a music festival. This year’s Latitude can boast the exclusive involvement of Michael Nyman and BAFTA in the Film and Music Arena; a quite astonishing comedy line-up including Bill Bailey, Omid Djalili, Ross Noble, Frankie Boyle and Rich Hall in the Comedy Arena.  The Literary Arena is packed full of top authors including Simon Armitage, Hanif Kureishi and Iain Banks as well as Latitude favourites Vox ‘N’ Roll, WordTheatre and Marcus Brigstocke’s The Early Edition. The National Theatre, Royal Court  Theatre, RSC and The Bush all bring exciting new shows to the Theatre Arena. Plus stellar poets Adrian Mitchell, Jo hn Hegley and Carol Ann Duffy are all confirmed for the Poetry Arena hosted by Luke Wright. The Cabaret Arena welcomes the ever hilarious and inventive Vauxhallville with plenty more exciting performances to announce in the pipeline. And that’s not to mention the awe-inspiring Sadler’s Wells who will perform their world class dance on a beautiful stage floating in the middle of the lake as will The Irrepressibles with their orchestral brilliance.

TICKET INFORMATION

Weekend tickets are now totally sold out, as are day tickets on Saturday and Sunday. There are a limited number of Friday tickets available. The Friday ticket does not include camping.

C/Card line 0870 060 3775

Or online at www.festivalrepublic.com, www.seetickets.com, www.latitudefestival.co.uk 

For a full list of National and Regional outlets please visit www.latitudefestival.co.uk

For more information on BBC Radio 4 visit www.bbc.co.uk/radio4