The seventh edition of Latitude, the UK’s favourite multi-arts festival, which takes place at Henham Park in Suffolk from 12-15th July, has made the first line-up announcements for 2012. On Friday 13th July, Bon Iver will close Latitude’s Obelisk Arena in his first major headline slot and only UK festival appearance in 2012. BBC Olympics theme composers Elbow will top the bill on Saturday, while Paul Weller will bring Latitude 2012 to a crescendo on Sunday 15th July. 

World famous concert pianist, Lang Lang, will make his outdoor festival debut at Latitude 2012. His exclusive guest appearance will see him perform against the spectacular lakeside backdrop of Latitude’s floating The Waterfront Stage. 

Hit BBC Radio 4 comedy-science show, The Infinite Monkey Cage, is a Latitude exclusive in the Comedy Arena, with Brian Cox and Robin Ince. The comedy and cabaret bill will also see special sets from Jack Dee, Reginald D Hunter, Greg Davies, Rich Hall, Russell Kane, Lee Nelson and Tim Minchin, with his rock n’ roll band. 

Internationally renowned performance companies the National Theatre and Sadler’s Wells will continue Latitude’s tradition for presenting the best in new dance and theatre. The Literary Arena will host a rare appearance from American writer, Siri Hustvedt as well as esteemed writers Iain Banks, John Pilger and Paul Mason. The Poetry Arena will host the biggest names in spoken word, with Benjamin Zephaniah, Tony Harrison, John Cooper Clarke and Scroobius Pip amongst some of those already confirmed.  

BAFTA will present a feast of multi-sensory and multi-disciplinary acts, shorts and screenings in The Film & Music Arena, alongside Paul Heaton’s spectacular The 8th and a screening of An English Journey Reimagined featuring Alan Moore, cult hero and Watchmen author. Mark Lamarr will be presenting his God’s Jukebox and Attack The Block director Adam Buxton will return to Latitude with his BUG music videos night.  

Joining the music headliners for Latitude is an eclectic selection of established and emerging artists. Laura Marling, Janelle Monáe, Richard Hawley, St Vincent, Tune-Yards and White Lies will each be making their only 2012 UK festival appearances at Latitude. Among the many acts making welcome returns to Henham Park are Bat For Lashes, Battles, and Metronomy. Latitude veterans The Horrors and Wild Beasts will headline The Word Arena on Saturday and Sunday night respectively. 80’s favourites Daryl Hall, Lloyd Cole and Simple Minds will all make welcome Latitude debuts this year, while other confirmed acts new to the festival include The Field, BBC Sound of 2012 winner Michael Kiwanuka, M83, Sharon van Etten and Zola Jesus. 

Melvin Benn, Managing Director of Festival Republic and Founder and Creator of Latitude festival, commented: “This year’s line-up will once again see Latitude present a bill of sensational artists. Superstar pianist Lang Lang is one of the world’s biggest live and recording artists, and we’re delighted to welcome him to his first ever outdoor festival. Bon Iver, Elbow and Paul Weller are all headliners with outstanding pedigrees, which we’re thrilled to announce. And with artists and companies of the calibre of Jack Dee, The Infinite Monkey Cage, National Theatre, Globe Education at Shakespeare’s Globe and Tim Minchin all appearing, we’re confident that 2012 will be the best Latitude yet.”  

Confirmed music acts to date include Alabama Shakes, Amadou & Mariam, The Antlers, Apparat, Bat For Lashes, Battles, Baxter Dury, Bon Iver, Buena Vista Social Club, Bwani Junction, Chairlift, Cold Specks, Daryl Hall, Daughter, Dawes, Destroyer, Dexy’s, Django Django, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes, Elbow, Esperanza Spalding, Explosions In The Sky, Fatoumata Diawara, The Field, Francois & The Atlas Mountains, GIVERS, The Horrors, Howler, I Break Horses, Iceage, Janelle Monae, Jonathan Wilson, Josh T.Pearson, Kindness, Kurt Vile, Lang Lang, Laura Marling, Lianne La Havas, Liz Green, Lloyd Cole, M83, Metronomy, Michael Kiwanuka, Other Lives, Paul Weller, Perfume Genius, Richard Hawley, SBTRKT, Sharon van Etten, Silver Seas, Simple Minds, Sissy & The Blisters, Soko, St Vincent, Sunless ‘97, Team Me, Thomas Dolby, Tune-Yards, The War on Drugs, We Are Augustines, We Have Band, White Lies, Wild Beasts, Wooden Shjips, Yeasayer, Zola Jesus and Zun Zun Egui.  

BBC Radio 3's eclectic late-night music show Late Junction returns for a second year at Latitude, hosting a typically diverse range of artists over three nights in the intimate Lavish Lounge. Including a rare solo set from Stereolab lead-singer Laetitia Sadier, and sound artist and award-winning barista James Brewster concocting music from the amplified sounds of live coffee preparation. Presented by DJ Max Reinhardt. 

As the king of the multi-arts festival, Latitude once again offers festival-goers an arts line-up that reads like a virtual walk through the culture pages of a Sunday newspaper. 11 dedicated arts stages will offer performances from a spectacular mix of artists across comedy, film, dance, theatre, literature, poetry, cabaret and classical music as well as the Latitude Contemporary Art Award and Exhibition. 

Filling the Comedy Arena with laughter this year will be pop star turned science pin-up Brian Cox (a Latitude exclusive for12) and comedy veteran Robin Ince, with their award-winning BBC Radio 4 show, The Infinite Monkey Cage. TV and radio favourite, the ever dead-pan and always hilarious Jack Dee has chosen Latitude as his only festival appearance. Comedy music maestro Tim Minchin will be hitting the stage with his rock n’roll band, and Reginald D Hunter will bring his laconic wit and sexy swagger to the festival arena. Lee Nelson will be giving us a “well good” show, and TV regular Rich Hall will be swapping screen for stage. The arena will also be graced by the effervescent Russell Kane, The Inbetweeners star Greg Davies, Fosters Comedy Award 2011 nominees Andrew Maxwell and Josie Long and laid-back comic Mark Watson. Other performers include Shappi Khorsandi, Phil Nicoll, Charlie Baker, Carl Donnelly, Tom Deacon, Jimmy McGhie, Nick Helm, Kerry Godliman, Katherine Ryan and Elis James.  

The Literary Arena will once again play host to the nation’s favourite authors, journalists and talking heads. The radically post-modern and celebrated bestselling American author Siri Hustvedt shares the headlining spot with Iain Banks the Scottish Literary bestseller whose hugely anticipated new book Stonemouth is published in April.  BBC Newsnight Economics Editor and author Paul Mason will give an overview of the recent global protest movements, with readings from his new book, Why It’s Kicking Off Everywhere. Award-winning editor Dylan Jones will read from his new biographical encyclopaedia of popular music, as part of which he will interview former The Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham. Young Faber author Richard Milward, Whitbread winning novelist Tim Lott and the king and queen of popular women’s fiction Jo & Emlyn Rees will also make appearances. Mark Haddon British novelist and poet, best known for his 2003 novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time has been confirmed and Wordtheatre will host a series of celebtastic short story readings from a whole host of famous faces. 

The ever popular Poetry Arena will feature the nation’s favourite poet Benjamin Zephaniah, Britain’s leading film and theatre poet, Tony Harrison; two-time winner of the T S Eliot Prize and Queen’s Gold Medal winner Don Paterson; critically acclaimed rapper and slam poet Scroobius Pip and legendary punk poet John Cooper Clarke.  Other highlights include Edinburgh Festival regular John Hegley, Next Generation selected poet Patience Agbabi, plus performances from a diverse mix of the hottest hip hop artists, slam poets, raconteurs, lyricists, and rappers including: Sabrina Mahfouz, Salena Godden, Byron Vincent, Rhian Edwards, Martin Figura, Aoife Mannix, Joel Stickley, Tim Clare, Intensi-T and many more. 

The Film & Music Arena presents a mix of film screenings and a collection of multi-media live music performances. Topping the bill is Paul Heaton’s (The Beautiful South) The 8th, a musical story of the seven deadly sins in eight parts, dubbed one of the longest pop songs ever. The 8th premiered at MIF last year to critical acclaim and has not been staged since so make sure you catch it at Latitude. Other performances include Iain Sinclair’s An English Journey Reimagined, an intoxicating mix of film, music, performance and spoken word inspired by JB Priestley’s 1930’s book An English Journey. Ian will be joined by legendary English folk singer Shirley Collins and Watchmen author Alan Moore. Adam Buxton will present his popular BFI show BUG, his pick of the latest interesting, brilliant and bizarre music videos. The London Community Gospel Choir will make an appearance on Sunday morning and Mark Lamarr will return with God’s Jukebox.  BAFTA will also present their highly anticipated programme of screenings and Q&As with some of the leading talent in the film and television industry, watch this space for updates. 

The nation’s leading theatre companies will be flocking to Latitude’s Theatre Arena with a stellar line-up of exhilarating productions. The enchanting Australian circus company C!rca will be strutting their superhuman stuff, while Lyric Hammersmith returns with a brand new series of highly experiential site specific theatre pieces from five of the country's most innovative theatre companies. 

Joining them inside the arena will be Battersea Arts Centre, Harold in Havana and the National Theatre, with Alice By Heart, an NT Connections production from the writers behind the hit musical adaptation of Spring Awakening. Documentary-theatre company Look Left Look Right, will premiere their Latitude commission of four new musicals. Political activist Mark Thomas will preview his new play about his father, Bravo Figura, before taking it up to Edinburgh’s Traverse Theatre. Contemporary dance favourites Sadler’s Wells are also set to return to The Waterfront Stage. 

Theatre Delicatessen will premiere their new production of Henry V in The Outdoor Theatre, which will play a major part in Latitude’s Occupy Zone. Here Globe Education at Shakespeare’s Globe and folk punk band Levellers (Acoustic) are scheduled to make special appearances. Suffolk’s leading festival theatre company HighTide will showcase their major new work on local folklore created especially for Latitude, Eisteddfod, whilst the award-winning Pentabus Theatre will present specially created work The Diggers Band. 

In the Cabaret Arena, Rich Hall’s Hoedown will bring the comic abandon of the American mid-west to the Suffolk countryside, while Ida Barr’s Variety Parade hilariously updates the traditions of old-time music hall with her distinctive brand of ‘artificial hip hop’. The Horne Section will be bringing their hybrid of jazz and comedy to Latitude while comic storyteller Hugh Hughes will present a brand new show, Stories From An Invisible Town. Unconventional theatre duo, Ridiculusmus, will also appear, and there will be TV personalities a-plenty, with Channel 4 Stand Up for The Week’s Sarah Pascoe, BBC Fast and Loose’s Jessica Ransom and soon-to-be E4 stars Cardinal Burns. 

Perrier award-winning Spank! with special guests and ‘purveyors of progressive working class entertainment’ Duckie will spice up the arena.  Clowning expert and Top Ten Fringe 2010 pick Dr Brown, Fosters Edinburgh Comedy Award 2011 Panel Prize winners Max and Ivan and Free Fringe sensation Four Screws Loose will also be presenting their cabaret delights. Joining them over the weekend will be Celia Pacquola, Sheeps, Wittank, Colin Hoult, Brian Lobel, Adam Kay, Unfolding Theatre, Naz Osmanoglu, Fergus Craig, Pat Cahill and Ed Gamble. 

In the weird and wonderful Pandora’s Playground, eccentric comedian Simon Munnery will be making an appearance with his infamous conceptual restaurant La Concepta.  Videopia will be giving you the chance to star in your own film with an interactive movie making activity that casts, shoots and screens miniature tributes to Hollywood classics. The Monster Comedy Shack will also be opening its exclusive doors for intimate giggles galore. Kitsch, cool, and full of character, The Disco Shed provides a unique party for revellers of all ages. 

The Faraway Forest will host a spectacular Hoedown on Saturday night at the festival as well as, a Ceilidh, plus Morris dancers, folklore performances, installations and a host of activities celebrating traditional culture with reference to seasonal and agricultural traditions. Within The Faraway Forest this year, Latitude will create an Occupy Zone which will focus on community, beginning with Britain’s Pagan heritage and the journey from there to the current belief system and the influence of protest groups. Latitude will celebrate identity, from paganism, tribal communities and folk customs through to present day political and resistance movements. There will be a Country Fayre on Sunday celebrating the local community with rural games, homemade cakes, sewing workshops and an alternative fete with some rather fascinating artists. Latitude will be working with art colleges in London and Norfolk to transform The Faraway Forest into different worlds each day of the festival. 

Elsewhere in Latitude’s Literary Salon, The School of Life will offer a thought-provoking and potentially life-changing programme of speakers and each night Forest Fringe will host performances from the best entertaining theatre practitioners including Bryony Kimmings and Andy Field. 

Tania Harrison, Programmer of the Arts Arenas commented: “We’re delighted to be presenting a vibrant and diverse arts programme at this year’s Latitude, inspired by all things British from the beginnings of our Pagan heritage to the present day. There will be new collaborations and original works on each and every stage from acoustic music in the Outdoor Theatre to stunning dance productions on The Waterfront Stage.  We’re also thrilled to be welcoming back old friends in the form of BAFTA, Battersea Arts Centre, Sadler’s Wells and the National Theatre each of whom are bringing stellar productions to the festival. The Faraway Forest is for the first time being enchantingly transformed into a different magical land each day, with Saturday night’s Hoedown promising to be this year’s unmissable knees up!” 

The Latitude Contemporary Art Award (LCA), now in its third year continues to offer a platform to five of the contemporary art world’s most exciting artists, giving them a chance to create a piece for an exhibition set a wooded area of Henham Park.  This year’s LCA shortlist comprises five contemporary artists:  modern day Hannah Höch equivalent Linder Sterling; The Guardian Artist of the Week Tom Dale; Jerwood Drawing Prize 2010 shortlister George Young, 2008 MaxMara prize shortlister Lisa Peachey and Kingston University Stanley Picker Fellowship member Andy Holden.  2011 Latitude Contemporary Art Prize winner Andy Harper will also be returning with a new piece. 

Latitude is a family friendly festival which will appeal to all ages. Alongside the main performance stages, Latitude has several areas dedicated to entertaining children and teenagers alike. Surrounded by woodland and colourful sheep, the Children’s Arena is its own little festival, while The Inbetweeners Area is a space for teens who want their own space at Latitude. There are even activities for babies, plus fun in the family campsite for early risers who can't wait to play. 

Sharon Reuben, Children’s Arena Booker said: “Each year the Children’s Arena gets bigger and better, thanks in part to the hard work and commitment from local organisations to give festival goers a child-friendly, family experience that entertains, educates and liberates. As well as providing fantastic facilities for kids in the Children’s Arena we are delighted to announce the return of The Inbetweeners Teen Area. With a programme packed tighter than a tin of sardines keeping kids of every age busy from morning till night, the area has everything from song and dance sessions with West End performers, to wildlife hunts, bushcraft adventures, and circus skills. Teen workshops with music and media industry professionals sit alongside lively dares and wild games. Join the ghastly Dr. Death and a whole host of live theatre and music shows from fun fairy tales to gory horror! Plus heaps of creative colourful crafts, your favourite authors and illustrators and so much more....