Corinne Bailey Rae announced as first Greenbelt Festival headliner

Grammy-winner Corinne Bailey Rae has been announced as the first headliner of the Greenbelt Festival which will return to Boughton House this summer.

Bailey will join acts including renegade ecological economist Kate Raworth, Palestinian violin master Akram Abdulfattah, physical theatre company Justice in Motion and American drag legend Flamy Grant who will be performing when Greenbelt returns in August.

The four day festival takes place from Thursday, August 22, to Sunday, August 24.

The theme of this year’s festival is ‘Dream On’, with organisers inviting everyone to dream big, be imaginative, find courage, be bold, embrace creativity and find inspiration.

Festival creative director, Paul Northup said: “Dream On is often seen as a throwaway phrase, something used to play down hope and possibility.

“But we want to rehabilitate and reimagine it.

“Instead of the ‘yeah, right…dream on’ like that’s-never-going-to-happen, we want to own it as an imperative, a call to action, as it were.”

Each year Greenbelt strives to deliver a festival rich in diversity.

Since its inception 50 years ago, its ethos has always been to create a space that is inclusive and representative, bringing together great artistry, courageous activism and a diverse line-up.

Corinne Bailey Rae will headline Greenbelt’s main stage on the Friday night and performing in its entirety her new album Black Rainbows.

The record melds rock, electronica, glam, punk, jazz and Afrofuturism.

In its fusing of multiple forms of artistry, combining protest and prayer, rage and riot grrrl energy, the record is a genre-defying album that could have been made to be played at Greenbelt.

Corinne will also be appearing in conversation elsewhere during the festival

Drag legend Flamy Grant is described as a glorious, shame-slaying, hip-swaying, singing-songwriting drag queen and Billboard-charting artist from North Carolina who has entertained music lovers from Los Angeles to Nashville with her funny, frank, and fabulous songs about glamour, gays and God.

Flamy was the first drag performer to appear on Christian music charts, with her country-gospel single Good Day. Her album Bible Belt Baby also topped the iTunes chart.

Palestinian-American violin master Akram Abdulfattah marries jazz with middle eastern and Indian music.

His style is a rich fusion brew influenced by Hindu, Turkish, and Persian styles, reflecting the rich legacy and culture of ancient music, but with a modern 21st century feel.

Last year, his multinational five-piece group, made up of musicians from Palestine, Sweden, Italy, Greece and the UK visited the UK for the first time and a new album is due for release in 2024.

Each year Greenbelt works to bring its festival-goers a programme filled with imaginative, provocative, thoughtful and inspiring artists.

Created by physical theatre company Justice in Motion, CODE tells the story of ‘county lines’ crime.

It will take place in a specially-built environment designed to look like an estate of concrete block architecture, which will be performed twice at the festival’s Playhouse venue.

CODE follows the story of a young person groomed by a criminal gang, who becomes caught up in the illegal drugs trade as a mule

Also on the line up is renegade ecological economist Kate Raworth who will be taking part in an interactive ‘We need to talk about growth’ session at the festival’s Hot House venue.

Over the past 25 years, Kate’s career has taken her from working with micro-entrepreneurs in the villages of Zanzibar to a decade as Senior Researcher at Oxfam.

Greenbelt Festival’s pay-what-you-can ticketing model is returning this year.

Festival goers can also spread the cost with Greenbelt’s monthly interest free installment plan until July.

Tier one adult weekend tickets start from just £160 for those who choose the Supported price, £202 for the festival’s Standard ticket and then up to £244 for the pay-it-forward Supporter ticket. Tier one tickets are available until the end of April.

For more information, visit https://www.greenbelt.org.uk