Steve Cropper, The Animals, and Jah Wobble for Rhythm Festival

The first acts have been confirmed for the 2008 Rhythm Festival, which runs from Friday 29th to Sunday 31st August at Twinwood Arena, Clapham, Bedfordshire.

American guitarist and songwriter Steve Cropper - a founding member of Booker T & The MGs, co-writer of such classics as 'Dock of the Bay', 'In The Midnight Hour', and 'Knock On Wood' - appears with The Animals, featuring original members John Steel and Micky Gallagher.
Bassist Jah Wobble brings his 'Special Event', a totally unique World Music performance; and fast-rising US band Gandalf Murphy & The Slambovian Circus of Dreams make their UK debut at Rhythm Festival.

Other acts booked to appear include Wilko Johnson and his band, Mike Sanchez, Chas & Dave and classic Welsh rockers, Man, celebrating their 40th year of existence. Other acts for the three festival music stages are to be announced soon.

Rhythm Festival - which started in 2006 - aims to be different from other outdoor music festivals, by being smaller (a capacity of under 5,000), friendlier and geared towards the customer. There's two music stages with classic and modern acts, a bigger kid's field (including mini Olympics, workshops, entertainers and dodgems), a Healing/Alternative Culture field, a Comedy stage, a Folk Club stage (organised by local clubs) and a solar-powered cinema featuring an old-style kid's morning, mini-seasons of classic comedies, gangster movies and a raft of more cutting edge movies.

The festival site is semi-permanent, and includes some flush toilets (augmented by portaloos), and proper roads and paths. The arena is a drained grassy amphitheatre and many attractions are housed indoors. Showers have been hired for the (supervised) campsites and there'll be car parking adjacent to the festival site, plus a shuttle bus from Bedford train station.

'Early bird' tickets are on sale, priced from £75 to £90 for adults for the weekend (price dependant on availability of these early bird tickets). Youths (16-17) are £69 for the weekend. Children (16 years old and under): free. Up to 2 free children per adult weekend ticket holder. Additional children are £35.00 each.

There are two areas for camping. The 'gold' area is the quiet campsite with a midnight until 7:30am noise curfew, costing £20 per tent for up to 5 people per tent (including youths & children). The 'bronze' area is nearer the arena, and cost £25 per tent for up to 5 people per tent (including youths & children). Each campsite has Showers, plenty of toilets and water points.

Campervans and caravans use the 'silver' area, which promises firmer ground, water-points, toilet-emptying facilities, and a short (5 minute) walk to the showers in the bronze campsite. The cost is £35 per campervan/caravan.

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