Latitude 2012 Bill: Bon Iver, Bat for Lashes, Brian Cox and billions more brilliant bands announced

Latitude festival has revealed the first taste of its 2012 line-up...

If there ever was a festival that you could describe as "lovely" without being patronising or condescending, it's Latitude. From the painted sheep to the churros, the willowy woods, the comedy, the cinema and the classical music... everything about it is that bit lovelier than pretty much every other UK festival. Then there's the line-up, which for the past six years has always been guaranteed to feature DiS album of the year makers of the past, present and future.

This year's festival takes place from Thursday 12th July 'til Sunday 15th at Henham Park in Southwold in Suffolk. Headlining will be Bon Iver (Friday), Elbow (Saturday) and Paul Weller (Sunday) with Wild Beasts, The Horrors and White Lies topping the bill on the second stage, otherwise known as The Word Arena.

...And there's more! This year's bill also features the makers of DiS' album of 2011 The Antlers, plus DiS-favourites M83, St Vincent, SBTRKT, The Field, Bat For Lashes, Battles, Metronomy, Yeasayer, Apparat, Tune-Yards, Sharon van Etten, Django Django, Chairlift, Perfume Genius, Destroyer, Explosions In The Sky, I Break Horses, Laura Marling, Josh T. Pearson, Wooden Shjips, Kurt Vile and Janelle Monáe.

Plus, also confirmed today (with more names to follow): Alabama Shakes, Amadou & Mariam, Baxter Dury, Buena Vista Social Club, Bwani Junction, Cold Specks, Daryl Hall, Daughter, Dawes, Dexy’s, Esperanza Spalding, Fatoumata Diawara, Francois & The Atlas Mountains, GIVERS, Howler, Iceage, Jonathan Wilson, Kindness, Lang Lang, Lianne La Havas, Liz Green, Lloyd Cole, Michael Kiwanuka, Other Lives, Paul Weller, Richard Hawley, Silver Seas, Simple Minds, Sissy & The Blisters, Soko, Sunless ‘97, Team Me, Thomas Dolby, The War on Drugs, We Are Augustines, We Have Band, White Lies, Zola Jesus and Zun Zun Egui.

The perma-smiling Melvin Benn, who's the Managing Director of Festival Republic and Founder & 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."

As Melvin mentions, the festival is about so much more than music, so here's a quick run-down of some of the things announced that we think might excite DiSsers:

• Jack Dee
• Adam Buxton will return to Latitude with his BUG music videos night.
• BBC Radio 4’s The Infinite Monkey Cage with Brian Cox and Robin Ince, Reginald D Hunter.
• World famous concert pianist, Lang Lang, will make his outdoor festival debut at Latitude 2012 on the floating Waterfront Stage.
• Tim Minchin, with his rock n’ roll band. - 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.
• 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.
• The Inbetweeners star Greg Davies.
• Josie Long.
• Mark Watson.
• 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.
• Mark Haddon British novelist and poet, best known for his 2003 novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time.
• lots more across the 11 multi-arts stages, see www.latitudefestival.co.uk for the line-up announced thus far.

Tickets are available as of 7.15pm on Monday 5th March, and if you're worried they're a bit expensive, there's even an installment plan to spread the cost of your Latitude weekend ticket between now and July.

Prices: Weekend adult tickets £175.00. Weekend child (5-12 years) tickets £5.00. Adult day tickets Fri, Sat, Sun £75.00. Child (5-12 years) day tickets Fri, Sat, Sun £5.00. Campervan Permit £40.00. Tickets subject to booking fees.

Credit Card line: 0871 231 0821 Online: www.latitudefestival.co.uk

Check back tomorrow for DiS' Spotify Sampler and we'll have more news about the festival as it's announced.

DiScuss: Who you excited about seeing? Who else would you like to see added? See you there? No sleep 'til Southwold?