Indigo Girls, Laura Mvula and Ezra Furman announced as Greenbelt Festival headliners

Indigo Girls, Laura Mvula and Ezra Furman have been revealed as the music acts which will headline the Greenbelt Festival this summer.

Greenbelt returns for its 50th anniversary in August to its regular home in the grounds of Boughton House near Kettering.

It is the UK’s leading festival of artistry, activism and belief and sees artists, speakers, thinkers and more coming together across its stages.

Creative director Paul Northup said: “We’re 50 this year and we think that’s worth celebrating.

“Not just to get nostalgic, but to stand in solidarity and look ahead. To find the courage, creativity, and inspiration needed to face the next 50 years.

“As ever with Greenbelt, there’s plenty more to announce as we head into spring, but we’re so excited to be able to share 2023’s initial line-up with you.”

The Friday will be headlined by The Indigo Girls. During a 35-year career that began in clubs around their native Atlanta, Georgia, the multi-Grammy-winning duo of Emily Saliers and Amy Ray have recorded 16 studio albums and sold more than 15 million records.

Mr Northup added: “We can’t quite believe Emily and Amy haven’t played the festival before.

“But we’re overjoyed to welcome these iconic pioneers as they make their Greenbelt debut.

“Also on our Friday bill we’re humbled to welcome back our Ukrainian friends, the brilliant Balaklava Blues.

“This time we’re putting their wild brew of dance-meets-protest-music on our main stage and teaming them up with a scratch choir of Ukrainian refugee singers, forced to flee their country following Russia’s invasion of their homeland.”

Headlining the mainstage on the Saturday will be Laura Mvula. The MOBO award winner melds retro soul and jazz-infused pop and Mvula has been nominated for a Mercury Prize nomination for each of her three albums to date

Mr Northup said: “A true artist with one of the great voices, we cannot wait to bring her back to Greenbelt, a festival she’s been to before as a festivalgoer, but is now returning to as a headliner.”

Closing out the festival on Sunday night will be American singer-songwriter Ezra Furman, sharing her songs of community and acceptance across a dreamscape of lush indie rock.

Furman has released five critically acclaimed solo albums, three with her former band the Harpoons as well as creating the original soundtrack for the hit Netflix Original Series Sex Education.

Mr Northup added: “Who better to close out our 50th and lay down a marker for the future than Ezra and her music, made where her faith, hope and identity intersect?”

Alongside Greenbelt debutantes like Ezra, the festival will welcome back some Greenbelt favourites in the shape of Grace Petrie and Duke Special too.

Also making his long-awaited return to the Greenbelt stage will be the legendary Bruce Cockburn, who is travelling to the UK from his home in San Francisco.

Elsewhere on the music stages there are the afro-fusion rhythms of K.O.G, the immersive showbiz of Oh My God! It’s the Church and the banging Palestinian pop and theatrical camp of the extraordinary Bashar Murad.

Away from the music stages and sharing their wisdom and words will be thinkers including economist Ann Pettifor and theologian Cole Arthur Riley, as well as writer and campaigner Jack Monroe and Brian Eno, who is back for more already having enjoyed his first visit last year.

Elsewhere on the theatre stage will be shows including The Chosen Haram, a story about holding onto faith and sexual identity.

Comedy shows by the Prince of Puns, Milton Jones, as well as ‘Attenborough’ “as you’ve never heard him before” are promised.

The Greenbelt Festival takes place from Thursday, August 24 to Sunday, August 27.

The festival’s new ‘pay-what-you-can’ model means that four-day weekend tickets start from just £150 for those who choose the Supported price.

Standard tickets cost £190 and Supporter tickets cost £230. Prices increase in April.

Admission for concessions is £100, £70 for under-18s and free for under-fives.

Purchases can be spread over monthly interest-free payments.

Mr Northup added: “There’s plenty more where all this comes from too, so make sure you grab your tickets and strap yourself in for everything that we’ve got in store for you this summer.

“We want as many people there as possible with us, to join the 50th party and be part of something truly special.”

For full details, visit www.greenbelt.org.uk