We Are Family as Sister Sledge come to Scotland

Doune the Rabbit Hole has announced the final headliners for its summer festival bill this July.

The ultimate party band Sister Sledge headline Saturday and Doune The Rabbit Hole is their only Scottish date this summer.

The band, famous for worldwide hits such as We Are Family (produced by Chic’s Nile Rodgers), Lost in Music and Thinking of You, have amassed a string of Gold and Platinum records over the years, sold over 15,000,000 records worldwide and have earned over 100 awards and commendations, garnering GRAMMY Nominations for Record of the Year and Best R&B Duo or group.

Seminal punk legends The Damned headline Friday night. The band release 11th studio album Evil Spirits this April and this is their only Scottish festival date. Also newly announced are space rock legends Hawkwind, a band synonymous with the free festival movement, Glastonbury and the Stonehenge solstice gatherings, stop off for their first UK festival show as they tour the UK to celebrate their 50th anniversary.

Having just re-issued their Mercury nominated album Rafi’s Revenge (1998) in its 21st anniversary year, Asian Dub Foundation follow this up with latest studio album More Signal More Noise later this year and play their only Scottish date at Doune. The lineup includes Scottish musician and composer C Duncan who released third album Health this week and Welsh-Cornish musician Gwenno who released new album Le Kov, which is entirely in Cornish, last year. Both are performing their only festival dates at Doune.

Radio Scotland and Radio 6 Music presenter Vic Galloway will be compering the Jabberwocky stage.

Held in partnership with Scottish gig promoter 432 Presents, all of these newly confirmed acts have been added to the bill alongside Bob Marley’s seminal reggae band The Wailers, former Czars frontman John Grant, Brooklyn’s Battles, Grammy award-winner and dub pioneer Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry and fellow Grammy nominees Hot 8 Brass Band, Bristol based trio Beak> performing their only Scottish date this summer, And So I Watch You From Afar, Scottish punk flag-bearers The Skids, classic punk poetry from John Cooper Clarke, Scottish Album of the Year winner Kathryn Joseph, Japanese pop punk trio Shonen Knife, snooker and DJ legend Steve Davis, a hugely popular draw at Doune the Rabbit Hole in 2017. This time he brings long-time collaborator Kavus Torabi.

Festival director Jamie Murray said: ‘Our final headliners, Sister Sledge and The Damned, cement what is the strongest lineup yet for our 10th birthday festival. These are the only Scottish dates for both bands this summer.

‘We’re also proud to welcome the original space rock band Hawkwind who are celebrating an incredible 50 years in the music industry which co-incidentally synergises with the 50th anniversary of the moon landings. We’ve also added to the bill some of the most exciting UK artists out there from C Duncan to Gwenno and The Murder Capital.

‘This year, we’ve doubled capacity, we’re building a strong talks programme, which will include the brilliant Scottish spoken word event Sonnet Youth, and we’ve also unveiled many of the family activities. As a reminder, we’re proud to continue our under 12s go free policy with weekend tickets for under 18s priced at just £30 including camping, ensuring Doune the Rabbit Hole is one of the best value festivals in the UK for families.’

Doune the Rabbit Hole is one of the UK’s most family-friendly festivals with a range of activities from arts to crafts, poetry, jam sessions and storytelling. There’s also a huge kids area and a family camping area quietly sited away form the hurly burly of late night events. Events this year include kids laughter yoga, kite making workshops, Woodcraft Folk (outdoor activities and nature based crafts), face painting, pottery workshops, Becky Rose Fisher yoga (for kids), Kakatsitsi drumming workshops and more to be announced.

New for this year is a special festival glamping experience with yurts on the lawn of the Cardross Estate in front of the house itself. Also new is the option of adding to your festival ticket lovely loos and showers for those on-site over the weekend who looking for a more luxurious festival experience. See the website for further details.

Doune The Rabbit Hole is one of only two dog friendly festivals in Scotland and the country’s best independent food and drink purveyors will pitch up offering an assortment of delights to keep hunger at bay.

For ticket information and updates on Doune The Rabbit Hole 2019 visit www.dounetherabbithole.co.uk.