It starts in Elmhurst Park and the Community Hall on Saturday 3 September (£10 Tickets on sale here), The Boathouse and Whisstocks Square by the iconic Tide Mill Sunday 4 September and ends at The Riverside Theatre and Cinema on Monday 5 September.
Tickets for Saturday and Monday are available for only £10. See woodbridgefestival.com for details. Sunday is a free event, but tables can be booked at The Boathouse Kitchen and Bar.
With the full line-up still to be announced, the weekend's music features the festival’s trademark mix of international stars, musical pioneers and regional acts. Amongst the headliners are Martyn Ware (founder of chart topping acts The Human League, Heaven 17 and producer of Tina Turner, Chaka Kahn and many more), Justin Robertson ( legendary Hacienda/ Bugged Out/ Lion Rock DJ), Chis Coco (of The Chill Out Tent and renowned Balearic artist and Ibiza star), Les Spaine (the UK Funk legend and Motown label boss), Ben Osborne (festival programmer and founder of Noise of Art), Auntie L, (London based Ghanian funk DJ), plus leading Suffolk bands JS & The Lockerbillies, Jupiter Ray, Latin Heat, Peter Hepworth and many more.
The music acts join the park’s bumper line-up of spoken word acts, arts activities, workshops, the festival kids zone and the festival’s active environmental area - plus more to be announced.
Elmhurst Park will also include a food and drinks street, featuring local, artisan producers and brewers. For the first time, a new section of the festival, The Village, will host the word area, alongside workshops, stalls and a section devoted to local acts.
The legendary musician, producer and electronic artist Martyn Ware (founder of Human League and Heaven 17, and producer of Tina Turner and Chaka Kahn), will launch his autobiography with a special Music Monday Q&A and book signing at The Riverside on Monday 5 September.
Playing in the Park on Saturday 3 September, Ibiza veteran DJ Chris Coco (one of the few UK DJs to have played every super club in Ibiza), joins Hacienda icon Justin Robertson, who famously converted the Chemical Brothers to dance music. Les Spaine, original funk DJ and one time UK label boss to Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gay and Diana Ross, pairs-up with the festival’s resident DJ Ben Osborne, reliving their recent sets at Liverpool International Music Festival, where they appeared alongside headliners such as UB40 and De La Soul. Top regional acts appearing include Suffolk based soul band Jupiter Ray, jazz funk dance act Latin Heat and singer songwriter Peter Hepworth. East London funk and soul stalwart Auntie L comes fresh from her turn at Manchester’s Escape From Freight Island.
Festival programmer and co-founder Ben Osborne says: “We’re massively looking forward to being back in the Park for the festival’s tenth year. Everyone's still buzzing about last year in the Park, where we came out of the pandemic with Jazzie B of Soul II Soul doing a Back To Life DJ set. This year we’re back to our weekend long format, with three days of events starting in the park and ending with the Martyn Ware launching ‘Electronically Yours’, his new autobiography, at The Riverside. As usual we’ve kept ticket prices for all the events low and under 15s are free in the park. We’re once again hugely grateful to Woodbridge Town Council and the people of Woodbridge for their support. This summer has been amazing and its great DJing back in Europe and playing places like Glastonbury and Liverpool International Music Festival again. But all the acts are really looking forward to being in Woodbridge for this weekend.”
Dates, times and venues at a glance: Saturday 3 September 1-7pm, Elmhurst Park, Woodbridge, Saturday 3 September 7pm-11:30PM, Woodbridge Community Hall, Sunday 4 September, The Boathouse, Whisstocks Square, Monday 5 September, 7:45pm Martyn Ware at The Riverside Cinema - tickets for all shows are available for £10 or under - with early bird tickets for the park going on sale soon.
