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LodeStar is a brand new music festival designed to showcase some of the best bands around in the idyllic setting of Sunnyridge Farm, Lode, Cambridgeshire. The event will take place from Friday 31 August to Sunday 2 September.

Whilst Glastonbury grows and commercial interest festivals continue to pop up all over the UK, there is one home grown soiree about to make its mark on the festival scene. LodeStar is Britain’s newest indie-rock festival, born from a love of music, a belief in community and a desire to give something back. The brainchild of landowner Doug Durrant, LodeStar is the realisation of a teenage ambition to stage a festival on the land his family has worked for four generations. His aim? To pull together a snapshot of what he calls “a thrilling era for live music”.

LodeStar, in association with BBC 6 Music, launches with a stellar line up of credible indie acts, taking in everything from the jagged art-rock of The Rakes and The Hot Puppies to the Badly Drawn Boy. The Pigeon Detectives fly in as a hot favourite of Doug who enthuses: “You just have to dance as soon as you hear their music!”

With the likes of Idlewild, The Bees and Alberta Cross also making appearances on the 70 plus line-up, across three stages, this event will spotlight some of the best breaking acts of 2007. Taking place on the 165 acres of his farm he has put down to grass, three quarters of a mile outside the village of Lode near Cambridge, Doug hopes to make the weekend one to remember

BBC 6 Music will be broadcasting live from site throughout the weekend, bringing you the best of the festival from across the weekend on DAB digital radio, digital TV and online at bbc.co.uk/6music.

Commenting on the partnership Live Music & Event Producer for BBC 6 Music John Pearson said:
"BBC 6 Music is delighted to be partnering The LodeStar Festival in its first year. The excellent line-up, and the range of artists on offer, reflect our audience's own wonderfully eclectic musical tastes. We're very much looking forward to bringing our listeners a brand new festival experience to round off the summer season!"

Promoter of the event Doug Durrant explains: “I’ve dreamt of this happening for my entire life. This festival really is about people – I’m ecstatic about the line-up we’ve got together. LodeStar will be an event made by the people and artists who make their way here at the end of August. The enthusiasm of everyone has helped take LodeStar forward into becoming an awesome event.”

Taking his cues from the “happenings” that defined the 60s counterculture he read about as a teenager, Doug has organised the festival with an ethos that harks back to a less cynical era of live music. The website www.lodestarfestival.com was purposely written by Doug to express the wish of LodeStar.

He continues : “With LodeStar, I am hoping to give people that thrill of taking a step outside the pressures of their everyday lives to enjoy live music in the sunshine. It’s something that I cannot wait to watch unfold.’

In a live music market saturated with conspicuous sponsorship and big deals, LodeStar has been organised outside this fast-developing convention in a bid to offer festival lovers a new event beautiful in its simplicity of focusing on an important part of all our lives, music.

A number of charities will benefit from LodeStar, including WaterAid, East Anglian Children’s Hospice, Headway Cambridge and Arthur Rank House.

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