Science and music collide once again this weekend with the return of Bluedot festival, which takes places underneath the Lovell telescope at the Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire.
This year’s four-day offering is the festival’s most ambitious yet, with Flaming Lips, The Chemical Brothers, Roni Size, The Orb and many more set to play.
Expect amazing music, incredible food and plenty of family-friendly science for what is one of the UK’s most unique festival offerings.
Here, we choose ten acts you can’t afford to miss.
For tickets and more information head here.
[tw_list no=”1″]Helena Hauff[/tw_list]
Saturday, 2:00am, Mission Control stage
The German electro queen will be performing at the Mission Control stage in the early hour of Sunday morning, with her second studio album out next month via Ninja Tune, this will almost certainly the only chance you’ll ever see the German playing in leafy Cheshire. Expect plenty of electro grit.
[tw_list no=”2″]Booka Shade[/tw_list]
Saturday, 10:15pm, Orbit stage
Booka Shade will be making their Bluedot festival debut on Saturday night. Having just released their excellent ‘Cut The Strings’ album, which saw the famed German live act focussing on melody over atmosphere, Arno and Walter will be performing their well-honed live show on Saturday night.
[tw_list no=”3″]Speakman Sound[/tw_list]
Saturday, 5:00pm, Nebula stage
We’ve been fans of Speakman Sound since hearing the brother’s debut single ‘Pangea’ last year. Brothers Todd and Guy are the brains behind Speakman Sound, and their sound has been largely inspired by their father, who apparently is a well-known guitarist in the world of psychedelic music, and it kinda shows. The duo will be playing at the Nebula stage on Saturday evening at 5:00pm. Expect plenty of festival bangers.
[tw_list no=”4″]Vessels[/tw_list]
Sunday, 6:20pm, Orbit Stage
Leeds-based four-piece Vessels will be making their Bluedot debut on Sunday evening and we’ve been fans of the four-piece ever since we heard the group’s muscular, ‘Radiart’. A hearty cut of dystopian techno that’s been cross-pollinated with band’s penchant for playing live — expect more of the same when they play live on Sunday evening at the Orbit stage.
[tw_list no=”5″]George Fitzgerald[/tw_list]
Sunday, 7:50pm, Orbit stage
George Fitzgerald will be performing live on Sunday evening at the Orbit stage, where he will be playing tracks from his critically acclaimed 2010 debut, ‘Fading Love’, and his more recent 2018 full-length, ‘All That Must Be’. Expect pop house vibes from 7:50pm on Sunday night.
[tw_list no=”6″]UNKLE[/tw_list]
Friday, 11:00pm, Orbit stage
Ahead of the release of music documentary, ‘The Man From UNKLE’, James Lavelle will be making a rare festival performance in the UK under his highly revered UNKLE alias. While the music today released under the banner of UNKLE is very different from the old UNKLE material — the spirit is still the same. Don’t miss Lavelle’s Bluedot debut on Friday evening at the Orbit stage.
[tw_list no=”7″]The Chemical Brothers[/tw_list]
Sunday, 9:20pm, Lovell Stage
Headlining Sunday night is arguably the UK most successful dance duo, The Chemical Brothers. The duo haven’t released any new material since 2015’s ‘Born In The Echoes’ but the duo did reveal that work on their 9th studio had begun earlier this year — might we hear something new on Sunday night? We sure hope so.
[tw_list no=”8″]Blue Planet In Concert with the Halle Orchestra[/tw_list]
Thursday, 9:00pm, Lovell stage
The opening night of this year’s Bluedot will see the Halle Orchestra performing live music to footage from the BBC’s revered nature series. Blue Planet. The Halle will be soundtracking footage from the original 2001 series, which is narrated by Sir David Attenborough. This promises to be the perfect start to 2018’s Bluedot festival.
[tw_list no=”9″]Ralph Lawson[/tw_list]
Saturday, 10:00pm, Mission
Leeds legend Ralph Lawson will be one of the many highlights of Saturday’s offering, with the 20:20 Vision boss playing for two hours on Saturday night. Expect plenty of tribal rhythms from the Back To Basics resident.
[tw_list no=”1o”]Human After All: A Tribute To Daft Punk[/tw_list]
Sunday, 12:00am, Nebula stage
Closing out the Nebula stage in the early hours of Monday morning will be Human After All, a Daft Punk tribute act and we can’t think of a better way to finish off this year’s Bluedot festival.