Guillemots, Joshua Radin, Nerina Pallot and Delta Maid are among the latest acts to be added to the Tramlines Festival line up as Hallam FM reveal the first artists booked for Saturday on Devonshire Green. The Saturday line-up has been designed to give a genuine festival vibe to Tramlines, the 'Free For All' event. This year Hallam FM's headline artists are all performing full length sets rather than a handful of tracks. 

Joining a line-up that already includes Ash, The Futureheads, Rolo Tomassi, Los Campesinos!, Shy FX, Johnny Clarke, Toddla T, Rodigan, and Dels, the extended line-up for Hallam FM at Tramlines also includes The Reason 4, Loick Essien, Rizzle Kicks, Alistair Griffin & Frankmusic. Tramlines have also added many more artists (full list below) that includes dubstep forefather Zed Bias, UK hip-hop legend Jehst and many more. The complete artist list is now well over 600 confirmed acts, a staggering ammount and a record for the festival. 

Festival Director, David Healy welcomed the changes. He said: “After last year’s event, we immediately set about looking at ways of improving the festival. With attendances currently doubling every year and Sheffield running out of places to put people, we felt now was a good time to do something a bit radical. 
“Our vision at the outset was to make Sheffield feel like a greenfield festival site. Hallam FM have pulled out all the stops for us this year and we are really looking forward to some big headline spots from the main acts. We still have a busy pop line up during the afternoon giving us the best of both worlds.”
With the greater emphasis on live music, ‘HallamFM@Tramlines’ now fits much more closely with the Tramlines ethos. The festival, which is spread over seventy venues in the city is entirely free. It actively encourages its audience to wander around the city and discover something new as well as checking in with a few old favourites.

For Anthony Gay, Hallam FM’s Regional Programme Director, the decision to change was easy. He said: “We supported the Tramlines Festival from year one as we could see it was something that was going to be great for the city. I think it is fair to say that the festival has exceeded everyone’s expectations, with an incredible atmosphere in the city all weekend. 

“This year’s changes bring Hallam much closer to the heart of the festival and align us with Tramlines stated aim of promoting the city’s live music scene. Hallam has always been willing to take risks and we think this change makes a lot of sense.”

This year the festival has a brand new area, The Folk Festival, taking place in a beautiful and secluded part of Endcliffe Park in the South West of the city. Over the weekend there will be performances from folk favourites like Martin Simpson, Nancy Kerr and James Fagan and rising stars Tyde. The Folk Festival also includes aspects of contemporary folk with performances from the Big Eyes Family Players, Rozi Plain and The Phantom Dog Beneath the Moon. A host of acousitc performers are in attendance including, Carl Woodford, Mark Wynn and Captives on the Carousel. The Folk Festival also includes a Ceilidh hosted by 'The Monster Ceilidh Band', traditional dancing, local ales and an open stage where anyone can bring an instrument and join in.

This week Tramlines has also confirmed that the Youth Music Festival is back, this time taking place at the Peace Gardens on Sunday. The Youth Festival will feature a break dance competition and a huge array of acts representing the best of Sheffield's young talent.

Tramlines will also be adding a Thursday night line up to the bill. Designed for the hardened festival goer the Thursday night sees a headline show at The Leadmill by Guillemots, complimented by free music and club nights across the city.
Matt Cottrill, the man responsible for programming the city’s local artists explains: “We have had so many bands applying to play this year – signed and unsigned - that we literally couldn’t fit them all in. The quality has been fantastic – and we felt that we could easily add another day to the party. 
“We are hoping this will be a bit of an intimate affair – with the hardcore music fans coming out for an extra day of music and partying. It’s another great development  for the festival and shows the amazing depth of musical talent that this city has to offer.”

This year Tramlines Festival takes place from Thursday 21st to Sunday 24th July.  There are now over 500 confirmed acts playing the festival. The festival is entirely free and looks to represent the full range of music played in Sheffield over the weekend.