IT'S GREEN, it's male, and it's a celebration of all
things musical, and will be setting up camp at
Crickhowell's Glanusk park this August.
Described by the NME as "what the perfect
festival should be," and by the Guardian as "Pure
Heaven," the Green Man Festival 2008 returns to the
Brecon Beacons for its sixth year.
The campsite will open on August 14, with the
festival running throughout the weekend until August
17.
This year's festival will see 90 odd acts playing
over three stages, with the chemical survivors that are
Spirtualised headlining on the Friday night, before
Welsh mavericks The Super Furry Animals take to the
main stage on Saturday.
Topping the bill on Sunday, and on the 40th
anniversary of their seminal double album 'Sweet
Child', will be the recently reformed 60's legends
Pentangle.
The unique British folk/jazz 'supergroup' will be
performing in their original line up of Bert Jansch, John
Renbourn, Jacqui McShee, Danny Thompson and Terry
Cox.
Formed in swinging '60s London, Pentangle were
one of the most exciting and innovative groups in the
world, genuinely pushing boundaries and exploring
new musical avenues. Simultaneously stars of the
underground and darlings of the mainstream, they
enjoyed an unprecedented degree of worldwide
success, and have been called 'Britain's Grateful
Dead.'
Support this year comes from Drive-By Truckers,
Iron and Wine, The National, Richard Thompson, Badly
Drawn Boy, and a host of others.
Rhys Ifans along with Super Furry Animals
drummer Dafydd Ieuan, Dic Ben, Kris Jenkins and Mick
Hilton have teamed together to create The Peth who
will issue their debut album 'The Golden Mile' on
September 1.
The Peth will preview the album with the release
of a single, and the Green Man will be your only
chance to enjoy the band in the full glory of a three
day festival event.
Ifans was the original vocalist in Super Furry
Animals prior to departing the band to focus on his
acting career.
Formed in 2006 as an excuse for the band
members to spend time together in the studio, the
album was recorded sporadically over a two year
period and tells of locations, characters and personal
tales in a mile long stretch between the studio and the
Grangetown area of Cardiff. According to Ifans
everything needed to 'sustain' the recording was
available on this stretch of road he dubbed The Golden
Mile.
Its raw, rumbunctious nature will make for an
electrifying live show.
Alongside the DJ tent, the cinema tent, and the
literature tent, for the third year running the Institute
of Physics (IOP)'s team of physics buskers will amaze
and entertain festival goers at the festival.
The Physics in the Field team will be setting up
their stall at Glanusk Park with the aim of getting
revellers of all ages to have a go at their physics
tricks.
Physics tricks are hand-held demonstrations
using things that can be found at home. Some are
messy, some are noisy, but all of them are crowd
pleasing and help illustrate different areas of physics.
Whilst the buskers pull in the crowds, inside the
500 capacity Science Tent festival goers will be able to
experience two incredible physics shows.
'Rock in 11 Dimensions' with its rock guitars and
mind-bending animations will get audiences thinking
in multiple dimensions and take them back to the
origins of matter.
'Top Ten Myths' will uncover the truth behind
some urban science myths. Can science help us
ghostbust? Does water rotate the other way down the
plug hole in Australia? And what do glowing gherkins
have to do with astronomy? All will be revealed.
The Physics in the Field tricks and shows were
extremely popular with the festival goers last year,
with one visitor revealing that, "Physics is a type of
science that makes you go wow". Another
commented, "We have seen amazing wonders.
Balloons that don't pop! Storms in bottles!"
Zbig Sobiesierski, chair of the Institute of Physics
in Wales says, "It's brilliant working at events like The
Green Man show because the visitors are really
interested in what we are doing and want to find out
more. What is really satisfying is when you show
someone a trick, and they relate it to something they
have come across in everyday life – but just hadn't
thought of it as physics before."
And for those visitors who can't get enough, all
the tricks performed by the team, including making
balloon kebabs, launching Alka Seltzer rockets or
turning pints of water upside down over a friend's
head without drenching them, are available on
http://www.physics.org">www.physics.org with full explanations.
Tickets for next year's Green Man festival are
available from the website http at
http://www.thegreenmanfestival.co.uk">www.thegreenmanfestival.co.uk and from Ticketline
UK on 08700 - 667799.
Adult weekend tickets cost £105.00 including
on-site camping and parking and entry is free for
Under 11s. There will be an additional cost for those
wishing to bring a live-in vehicle.
If you would like any further information about
tickets please email [email protected]">[email protected]





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