The Coral announced as headliners for new family friendly festival

A brand new festival set against the backdrop of the Peak District National Park has been launched this week.
The Coral.The Coral.
The Coral.

The first Cotton Clouds Festival will take place on Saturday, August 12 at Saddleworth Cricket Club and will feature The Coral as its main stage headliners.

Also confirmed for the line-up are The Sugarhill Gang, Nick Heyward, The Whip, PINS, Everly Pregnant Brothers, Clint Boon (DJ set) and many more.

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The idea for the new festival was conjured up from the blue-sky thinking of brothers Max and Rick Lees and local entrepreneur Luke Stanley.

Hosting an eclectic line up of artists across three expertly curated stages, plus an array of activities on site for all ages, Cotton Clouds Festival promises something for everyone.

Festival headliners The Coral can count on over two decades of timeless songwriting and eight celebrated albums now to their name.

Currently touring with the wispy psychedelia of their critically-acclaimed latest long-player “Distance Inbetween”, and with a back catalogue teeming with balmy and beatific indie pop hits such as “Dreaming of You”, “In The Morning”, “Pass It On”, “Jacqueline” and more, the wondrous Wirralers are in prime position to put fans on cloud nine this August.

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With hopes-up for a red sky on the night, there’ll most certainly be Rappers Delight as US hip hop supremos The Sugarhill Gang bring their ground-breaking 1979 hit and a host of other treats to the main stage earlier in the evening.

Nick Heyward knows all the hallmarks of a Fantastic Day when he sees one from his years captaining Beckenham faves Haircut 100 and he will be bringing his sing-along songs to bring some cheer to the festival.

Elsewhere on site, there’s a whirl of home-spun talent from the Northwest to be found with some dancefloor domination compliments of The Whip, eclectic and esoteric ukulele escapades with The Everly Pregnant Brothers, plus full throttle rulebook-ripping outings from rockers The Blinders and Cupids.

With artists sweeping in from all across the country and beyond, the inaugural festival promises a day of engaging end-to-end performances across an outdoor main stage, plus two indoor stages that will be headlined by PINS and The Rhythm Method.

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Looking to the horizon, Cotton Clouds also pledges to provide a platform for the next generation of talent threatening to brew up a storm in the not-too-distant future. Cherry picking some of the most electrifying breaking bands from across the Northwest, this year’s festival will also welcome scintillating sets across the festival from the likes of Stillia, Gardenback, Hello Operator, Howling Rhythm & The Howling Horns, Ethan & The Reformation, Shadow Palace, The Sundowners, The G-O-D, Tear, Nev Cottee, Yucatan, Colour Me Wednesday and Proletariat.

With splendour aplenty to be found for big kids on the bill, there’ll also be plenty for the little ones too. The festival’s children’s activities area will be offering the nippers plenty of creative kicks, fun face painting, bold and brassy badge-making, arts and crafts classes and much more.

Specially selected street food stalls, pop up bars and a real ale tent will be landing at the festival for the entire duration.

Speaking about the debut festival the Lees brothers said: “Having played and worked at many festivals across the UK and Europe over the last eight years we’ve built up the knowledge and contacts to finally make this work.

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“Saddleworth is a beautiful setting for a festival and has a rich musical heritage but there hasn’t been a music event of this scale here since The Jam played here in 1979. We hope to build a reputable event that becomes part of the UK festival scene over the coming years.”

Tickets are priced at £39 and will be available from 9am tomorrow (Friday) on the Cotton Clouds website at http://www.cottoncloudsfestival.com/