LONDON - 19 March 2003 - 568 words

Billy Bragg to headline at Greenbelt festival

The first acts have been confirmed for the 30th Greenbelt Christian festival this summer. Billy Bragg will be headlining on the final night.

Dubbed Britain's finest rock poet by NME, Bragg will bring four days of inter-church worship, music, seminars and arts to a close at Cheltenham Racecourse over the August bank holiday weekend.

Organisers believe the festival, Diving for Pearls, will reward festival-goers with lasting moments of wisdom, elation and reflection.

"We've got so much to celebrate this year," festival chair Jude Levermore said.

"The line-up is already gearing up to be one of the strongest in recent years and we're looking to get 15,000 people on site to enjoy everything the festival has to offer."

Eight stages will bring a diverse and eclectic range of music to festival-goers. Folk legends and festival favourites Waterson:Carthy will support the young queen of English folk, Kate Rusby, in her first appearance at the festival on Friday night, while Cathy Burton, whose debut album Burn Out came out last year, will make a welcome return to the festival.

Stage 1 will be graced with the world hip-hop of Secret Archives of the Vatican and festival favourites Eden Burning will reform for a special 30th collaboration.

And thanks to the help of CMS, the South African song and dance spectacular Umoja will bring two exclusive performances to the Greenbelt stage and inspiring us in worship.

The seminar programme is shaping up to be as strong as ever and will include a new venue, Grit, giving people the chance to meet speakers and engage in debate.

Melkite priest Fr Elias Chacour, known for his peace work in the Middle East, will speak on the Sermon on the Mount, while the travel writer William Dalrymple, author of From the Holy Mountain, will elaborate on the indigenous Christians of that troubled region.

This year's festival also sees a welcome return from Dave Andrews, author of Christi-Anarchy and Not Religion But Love, and Mike Yaconelli, author of Dangerous Wonder and Messy Spirituality.

Other speakers booked so far include the journalist Jo Ind on God, Sex and Us and Graham Cray on new forms of church. Festival-goers will also hear from Kathy Galloway, leader of the Iona Community, and leading Catholic thinkers, author and broadcaster Lavinia Byrne and journalist and feminist writer Margaret Hebblethwaite.

Meanwhile people are being urged to bring old mobile phones to help Christian Aid make the biggest `mobile mobile' art installation ever ­ before the phones are recycled into cash to fight poverty.

As Greenbelt starts to look closely at it own green credentials, Jonathan Porritt ­ chair of the Government's UK Sustainable Development Commission and co-founder and director of Forum for the Future ­ will be making his first festival appearance.

The visual arts programme will include the Ark, an interactive sculpture filled with clay animals made by festival-goers, while a full programme of performing arts will feature ­ new for 2003 ­ a dedicated theatre venue the Little Big Top.

There'll be plenty of to laugh about too, including two late night stand-up comedy shows from festival favourites, Ship of Fools.

And in our continuing commitment to young people, under-18s will enjoy an enhanced programme of special 30th celebrations and can come for £30 if they book before the end of April.

Greenbelt Festival takes place August 22-25 at Cheltenham Racecourse. The full line-up will be announced in July.


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