Gigs & Nightlife

Bluedot festival 2022 headliners revealed after two years of cancellations

Daisy Jackson - 1st February 2022

Bluedot festival is finally set to make a return in 2022, with headline performances from Bjork, Groove Armada, Mogwai and Metronomy.

The popular festival at the Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire has revealed the first wave of its line-up for this July’s event.

Bluedot marries the worlds of music, science and culture in a family-friendly four-day extravaganza.

Both its 2020 and 2021 festivals had to be cancelled, with organisers saying a ‘lack of government support around insurance’ had forced them to call it off.

But Bluedot will be back between 21 and 24 July for its fifth instalment.

There’ll be huge performances beneath the 76-metre-wide Lovell Telescope, which will be lit up with projections as a huge digital artwork for the first time.

Bjork will close this year’s Bluedot in a UK festival exclusive, with a uniquely commissioned performance with the Halle Orchestra.

On Friday night, dance act Groove Armada will headline as part of the band’s final live tour.

Scottish post-rockers Mogwai are set to headline the Saturday night, following the release of their Mercury Prize-nominated As The Love Continues.

They’ll be joined on the Saturday evening by Metronomy, who’ll perform tracks from their upcoming seventh album, Small World.

Bluedot’s now-traditional opening concert on the Thursday evening will see Mercury-nominated Hannah Peel and Paraochestra take to the stage.

Also confirmed on the bill are psychedelic space rockers Spiritualized, current chart-toppers Yard Act, Warp Records mainstay Squarepusher, multi-instrumentalist composer Anna Meredith, the legendary likes of A Certain Ratio and Tim Burgess, and techno producer and creator of the official theme for the 2023 Women’s World Cup Kelly Lee Owens.

Bluedot 2022’s science programme will welcome key speakers including Radio 4’s Jam Al-Khalili, British filmmaker David Olusoga, space scientist Monica Grady, and many more.

Comedians such as Desiree Burch, Olga Koch, Robin Ince and Ahir Shah will also be making appearances as part of the culture programme.

Read more: Where to find the best Chinese restaurants in Manchester

The family-friendly festival will also have curations from Wallace & Gromit creators Aardman Animations and Clangers, and an enormous range of science-focused activities, workshops and live experiments across the Star Fields.

Festival director Ben Robinson said: “After two years away we are thrilled to be able to return with such a unique and diverse line up to the iconic Jodrell Bank for the fifth instalment of bluedot.

“We can’t wait for people to join us beneath the Lovell Telescope in July to experience four days of cosmic adventures which will close with a very special orchestral performance from Björk and The Hallé.”

Visit discoverthebluedot.com for more.

Featured image: Scott Salt