Stendhal Festival 2018 Announces First Batch Of Bands With Local And International Acts

Stendhal Festival has announced the first part of the musical programme for the eighth installment of the multi-award winning music and arts festival which takes place on August 10 and 11, at Ballymully Cottage Farm, Limavady.

Topping the bill this year is one of the UK biggest post brit-pop acts, Embrace.

With 7 top ten UK albums, 3 of which hitting the coveted number 1 spot, Embrace are one of the best-selling bands from the UK of the past 20 years.

Their ability to combine anthemic hooks with an almost orchestral, sweeping rock sound has ensured that they created huge hit singles such as ‘Get back to what you know’, ‘All you good good people’, ‘Ashes’, ‘Gravity’ and ‘Wonder’,  and as a result Embrace have a live setlist that is guaranteed to generate an amazing sing-along  session. 

With New Album, ‘Love is a basic need’  debuting at number 5 in the UK Album Charts and generally well received after its March 2018 release, the band will also have a whole host of brand new songs to showcase at Stendhal.

A spectacular wall of pulsating sonic eruptions lies in wait at Stendhal this summer as And So I Watch You From Afar make their long-awaited Ballymully Cottage Farm debut.

Easily one of Northern Irelands best live acts, telling stories without words with an epic, vibrant, vicious and hard-hitting sound, ASIWYFA conjure a live performance that simply has to be experienced.

For lovers of all things funky The Craig Charles Funk and Soul Club will go down a storm at Stendhal this year as the legendary actor, host, and broadcaster Craig Charles is also one of UK’s most beloved Funk and Soul DJ’s.

From Robot Wars to Red Dwarf, Craig has now grounded himself as a Funk & Soul icon after 10 years of broadcasting on BBC 6 Music with a primetime Saturday night show.

Having just played to over 200,000 people in just three nights supporting Ed Sheeran in Australia earlier this month, Ryan McMullan’s star continues to rise.

Having watched Ryan’s progression from when he first came to play Stendhal in 2013, the Stendhal team say they are thrilled that he is returning to Ballymully Cottage Farm this summer and look forward to watching his star continue to grow even bigger and shine even brighter.

For lovers of Country Music, Stendhal has secured one of the biggest names on the scene today, as Derek Ryan is ready and waiting to get a good jiving session underway.

From Moy to Melbourne and Limavady to London, Derek Ryan is Irish country music’s golden boy with chart-topping albums, self-written smash hit singles, box-office-busting live tours and of course an army of faithful fans around the world.

The 4 Of Us have been a steadfast part of Irish music history for over a quarter of a century.

Formed and fronted by Newry-born brothers Brendan and Declan Murphy, they have developed a unique musical identity which has produced original and award-winning recordings, as well as a large and loyal fan base.

Having made their Stendhal debut last year, such was the quality and appeal of their performance; the team at Stendhal say they simply had to have them back again.

Continuing their partnership with Derry/Londonderry based electronica Festival, Celtronic, Stendhal is pleased to announce that this year Celtronic Presents; Tom Middleton, the pioneering Electronic Neoclassical Composer, Producer and DJ.

Also on the bill are; The Logues, Joshua Burnside, Rosborough, Roe, Le Boom, The Irish Video Game Orchestra, Hunkpapa, The Eskies, Ursula Burns, Tony Villiers and the Villains, Mean Mary, The Swingtime Starlets, Waldorf & Cannon, The Ocelots, Electric Octopus, The Pox Men, Dream Awake, The Wood Burning Savages, Runabay.

More line-up announcements are due in the coming weeks but Stendhal Director Ross Parkhill says he is already thrilled at how the line-up is taking shape.

“It’s tough to keep trying to top our line-up each and every year but again I think we have accomplished it,” he said.

“Embrace have a great fan base and a catalogue of fantastic songs, And So I Watch You From Afar are one of the best live acts to ever come out of Northern Ireland and everyone else will combine to create an incredibly diverse programme which covers as many genres of music as possible.”

He added: “We are happy to not only be showcasing some household names but also continuing to support up and coming Northern Irish talent while introducing our audience to a lot of new musical experiences which we hope will stay with them long after the festival is over.”

Ross concluded: “There are still more acts to be announced so this line-up is only going to get even better and that’s not to mention all the non-musical elements of the festival which we have in store for everyone this year. We can’t wait until the full scope of the programme is apparent to all.”

Tickets for the event are available now on www.stendhalfestival.com