V Festival, sponsored by Virgin Mobile, is back for its thirteenth year and yet again they're giving us a cracking line-up! Taking place on 16th & 17th August 2008 at Hylands Park, Chelmsford and Weston Park, Staffordshire is on it’s way!

This year over 100 of the hottest acts will belt out tunes across five stages.  A host of established acts along with more than a smattering of the industry’s hottest hopes for the future will entertain us over the weekend. Headliners Muse and the The Verve, live supremos Kings of Leon and Stereophonics and other favourites as well as future Brit icons such as Amy Winehouse, Kaiser Chiefs, The Prodigy, and The Kooks will be gracing both sites.

“We’re really proud of the V Festival line-up this year.  A European exclusive performance by Muse and some truly fantastic established live acts mixed with some exciting newcomers will result in a cracking weekend.  Something to get every fan on their feet!”
Festival Director Bob Angus

For those not lucky enough to get a ticket, and to celebrate five years of festival coverage, Channel 4 will be running a series of V Festival programmes specials in the build up to the event. More live coverage than ever before ensures that viewers can enjoy front row seats to one of the hottest festivals of the summer! Heading up this televisual feast will be Popworld graduate Alexa Chung with a launch special - “V Festival 2008: The Line Up”, due to air on Saturday 8th March at 9.25am.

More information about those mega acts:
This year’s headliners, Muse, are a band that have more than doubled their audience with each new album released, and established themselves as the most thrilling, operatic, sci-fi carnival on the European arena circuit.

The Kings of Leon, sons of a Pentecostal minister grew up travelling with the preacher around the rural Deep South. Now big league indie stars, this summer they grace the stage at V Festival.

In eight tumultuous years between 1997 and 2005, the Welsh three piece The Stereophonics released five albums, scored 20 Top 20 hits, racked up multi-million sales and toured relentlessly on an exhausting schedule. After an enforced hiatus, Stereophonics are sure to dazzle crowds at this year’s V Festival!

Kaiser Chiefs  first album sold almost 3 million worldwide. Radio took the band to their hearts across the world and made sure that the album maintained its momentum and it's Top 40 album status for 18 months in the UK. Kaiser Chiefs followed this up with 'Yours Truly, Angry Mob'. This year they play V Festival.

She might sound like a 40s jazz singer, but Amy Winehouse is a 24 year old BRIT Award winner from London using forefront beats and lyrics. Fans from around the world have marked her out as one of the most distinct voices in pop and she will be entertaining fans at this year’s V with humour and soul.

Like all the finest young bands, The Pigeon Detectives rely on pure unadulterated passion and are gloriously straightforward and natural in every respect. Upholding a classic British tradition of only writing singles, they will grace the stage at this year’s V Festival!

Much has happened in the world of music since Lenny Kravitz first entered public consciousness, but through it all he has persevered and flourished as one of the greatest rock musicians of our time. This year he will be proving why at V Festival.

Formed in Newcastle in 2001, Maximo Park came together when their original bassist decided he had no desire to be a lead vocalist and the search for a front-person began. Fate conspired to bring them Paul Smith, a front man with the requisite look, energy and focus to drive the band forward all the way to this year’s V Festival.

Manchester is a city of mavericks and hooligan poets, individuals making their own mad mash up music and Ian Brown is king monkey of this clan. He’s got the charisma and he’s got the talent to pull these unlikely combinations off and this year, Ian Brown brings his own unique brand of soul power to V Festival.

This year V Festival plays host to ground-breaking dance duo The Chemical Brothers. With five albums, three Grammies, countless hit singles and some nine million album sales, the Chemical fusion still sparkles. You know what to expect from the Chemical Brothers by now, something that’s totally unexpected!

The Charlatans formed in 1989 and first tasted chart success with their second single which hit the top ten the following year. They have since gone on to establish themselves as a major force in British Music, enjoying nine Top 10 albums and 22 Top 40 singles. This year they play V.

The Hoosiers have created a shiny great dollop of what the band like to call Odd-Pop. After a year of tasting life in the Mid-West of America something clicked and they headed to London to assemble a crack team of musical commandos. Their unique brand of odd-pop is as refreshing as their eccentricities. Welcome to the wonderful world of The Hoosiers!

John McClure, a.k.a The Reverend, may be many different people. A poet. A gobshite to his enemies. A genius to his friends. An armchair detective. The bloke working in the Sheffield Steel Factory. A 25 year old pop revolutionary and now a top ten pop star. With Reverend and The Makers a serious touring concern it is fitting that this year they play V Festival. Legendary songwriters

The Feeling are not one of those bands who respond to success by getting grumpy and telling you how hard their lives are now. With a second album under their belts this summer, The Feeling will wow audiences at V Festival.

Girls Aloud are now something of a national institution. From the teenage small-town rebels of Sound of the Underground to the funny take on 21st century C-list celebrity of Chemistry, Girls Aloud seem unstoppable, a group of women at the very height of their powers with no intention of coming down any time soon. V Festival, prepare to be rocked!

Squeeze are set to reunite this year for a series of very special live dates on The Quintessential Tour, their first live shows this century. This year they reincarnate the magic at V Festival!

From the start The Twang's gigs were a riotous occasion and they quickly became a name within the Midlands. The band have kept on doing what they do best, playing shows with the likes of The Charlatans in addition to their own increasingly celebratory headline shows. Prepare to be dazzled as the band grace the stage at V Festival.

Inspired, adolescent Amy Macdonald picked up one of the guitars her dad had lying around the house and just taught herself how to play the thing. There were no genetic influences, nor even lessons, just a good ear and a few chord patterns found on the Internet. Last year Amy Macdonald recorded her debut album.

So there you have it - another great line up featuring our finest brought to you by the team at V - a hot, hot festival of fun!

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