Happy Mondays & Charlatans confirmed for GuilFest July 11/12/13 2009
 

Mad Mancunians Happy Mondays, who are as legendary for their lifestyle as their unique collision of rave beats, indie rock and street poetry, have been confirmed as headliners on Sunday 12th July. Formed in 1985, Happy Mondays built their sound around hip hop beats, funky bass lines, blues guitars, samples and Ryder’s inimitable lyrics - a compelling mixture of street slang, drug gibberish and menacing sexuality.

Famous for 90s anthems Step On, Stinkin, Thinkin and Kinky Afro, taken from fantastic albums such as ‘Squirrel And G-Man Twenty Four Hour Party People Plastic Face Carnt Smile (White Out)’, ‘Bummed’, ‘Pills Thrill’s and Bellyaches’ and stars of ‘24hour Party People’, the incredibly successful film about the bands career, Happy Mondays also achieved success across the pond in the US, hitting the number 1 slot on the US dance chart with Stinkin, Thinkin, and also number 1 on the modern rock tracks chart with Kinky Afro.

Happy Mondays will, without a doubt, close the GuilFest Main Stage with a massive bang on Sunday 12th July.

With a career spanning over 20 years, 8 UK top ten albums (including 3 UK number one albums) The Charlatans have most definitely stood the test of time, helping to define the genre of UK indie rock. Entertaining crowd pleasers and great songwriters, the band have been responsible awesome anthems such as “The Only One I Know, “North Country Boy” and “One To Another”. In March 2008 The Charlatans became the focus of much media exposure when they became the first band ever to release a brand new album entirely for free over the internet – ‘You Cross My Path’ - which at last count had racked up an official 90,000 downloads. The Charlatans will most certainly rock the GuilFest main stage on Saturday night!

Happy Mondays and The Charlatans join previously announced rock and roll legends Motörhead and Beach Boy Brian Wilson who are headlining the Main Stage on Friday and Saturday respectively. The line up over GuilFest’s seven music stages will continue to grow over the next few weeks and along with top performers for both the comedy and theatre tent, great facilities across the board including mammoth bar, cocktail bars, great food, and a huge variety of stalls selling everything you could ever hope to find at a festival, organisers are determined to make this year’s festival the best one ever! GuilFest are also delighted to welcome back Commercial Radio, who will be presenting many of the acts with local icon Peter Gordon and more following their fantastic job last year.

As regular patrons will know, GuilFest features one of the best festival children’s areas in the whole country, the GuilFest Kidzone – with loads of fun, games, face painting, drum sessions, musical workshops, parades and much more – culminating in a huge procession around the park on Sunday.

The incredibly popular Farmer Giles barn dance returns for 2009, along with many other attractions such as the amazing theatre tent – you might see performances of classic fairy tales like Jack and the beanstalk or Alice in Wonderland - all in a sunny weekend of fun at Stoke Park. Elsewhere on the site you will also find the Rock Disco – back again by popular demand – and the fabulous acoustic stage!

NEW for 2009!! Get ready to be have some “discotastic” fun with the brand new 70s Disco! Featuring classics from the disco and northern soul era – sure to be an absolute blast late into the night!


The award winning family-friendly, relaxed vibe and atmosphere by which other festivals have come to be judged will, as usual, be a major focus of this year’s GuilFest. Tickets are now on sale and are available on-line at GuilFest or by calling Ticketline on 0871 424 0050.