29th June – 1st July 2012The Ribble Valley, Lancashire

The Beat-Herder Festival, Lancashire’s highly anticipated festival with its unique formula of live music, locally sourced food & drink and an unpretentious Northern ethos is now completely SOLD OUT. Based on the simple desire to ‘bring good people together to have a good time in beautiful surroundings’, Beat-Herder is one of the few festivals on the circuit that eschews sponsorship, corporate branding and egos in favour of independent and local stall owners and a refreshingly hand-crafted site, creating a utopia from the outside world for 3 days each summer.

In addition to the high calibre music on offer at Beat-Herder there is a whole host of activities and events taking place across the weekend for all the family. Amongst the hordes of theatrical performers and workshops is the exciting Ladybird Project. This is the main children’s workshop and entertainment spot where 25 performers programme a whole weekend of fun for all the family featuring everything from circus skills to dramatics.

The graffiti tent, aptly named Best Joined Up, is run by a group of 20 creatives who every year, paint all over the festival along with hosting their own tent where punters can get stuck in with a  spray can. Making their third appearance at Beat-Herder will be the Red Hot Frilly Knickers, who are a group of eight ladies and one guy in fancy dress who perform the Can-Can all over the festival site. 

Creating sculptures out of anything and everything including aeroplane parts and bits of machinery will be Wrekon. Previously only featured at Glastonbury and Fuji Rocks, Beat-Herder is very proud to be added to their exclusive roster. Scrap parts and bits of machinery result in 30ft lizard, monkeys and futuristic robots which create a Mad Max vibe across the Ribble Valley.

There is also plethora of comedy talent heading to Lancashire including opening act Katie Mulgrew who has been described by comedy website Chortle as “so entertaining”. She will be joined by master of ceremonies Phil Ellis and headline acts Alex Boardman, Joe Lycett and The Brilliant Mick Ferry.

Beat-Herder will also be supporting up and coming talent with performances from Danny Sutcliffe, Ruth Cockburn, Rich Wall, Adam Staunton and Jay Hampson.

Over the years The Beat-Herder has grown to become nestled perfectly into the landscape around it. The famous Toil Trees stage, one of the most unique festival locations in the country, is set amongst tall firs, draped with throws and sails with spinning images projected onto the trunks and leaves. 2012 will continue to see new venues added that make the most of the beautiful natural surroundings, which includes over 4000 flowers which are lovingly nurtured from seed. 

The infamous Beat-Herder Working Men’s Club, a mock-up of a working men’s club run by a group of Bette Lynch-esque ladies, will be making a much-welcomed return (expect Bingo, the hilarious ‘Beat-Herder’s Got Talent’, drag queen acts and much more), plus look out for the Raj themed ‘Rajazzle Tent’, which will be hosting unsigned acts ranging from hip hop to Bangra and a selection of top notch comedy acts on the Sunday. 

There will be several other unique features to the festival including tasty home-made cakes and pies which can only be found in Lancashire and the intriguingly collectively titled ‘Crazed Inventions’ which include vibrating benches and a network of tunnels that lead you to different zones, ‘The Street’, a thespian orientated experience where one can get a  tattoo, a haircut or a wet shave, browse the book shop and antiques emporium, or play records in the DIY Garage disco and transport yourself  to different areas of the festival via the teleport phone box tunnel system.

For the first time, Boutique Camping will be available at The Beat-Herder. Accommodation will range from tipis, yurts and bell tents, all lovingly made locally by a close friend of the festival. There will be plenty of hot showers and flushing toilets for the more discerning punters. In typical Beat-Herder fashion these will be some of the most affordable boutique options on the festival circuit.

The Beat-Herder Festival is the brainchild of six creative Yorkshire men who were tired of overcrowded and pretentious festivals that were overrun with the same big brands and corporate sponsors. After first establishing in 2006, the festival has grown year on year both in terms of capacity and line up, and yet crucially the atmosphere remains one that is intimate, charming and above all friendly. For the first time, Boutique Camping will be available at the festival. Accommodation will range from tipi, yurt and bell tent and there will be plenty of hot showers and flushing toilet for the more discerning punters. The Beat-Herder attracts an extremely loyal crowd, so much so that 180 people have had The Beat-Herder logo tattooed, an indication of the passion put into making people feel at home at the festival.