Belle & Sebastian have announced the initial line-up for their Mediterranean cruise festival, The Boaty Weekender.

The four-day festival, which is due to take place next summer, will mark the 20th anniversary of the band’s Bowlie Weekender. That event was held at Pontin’s in Camber Sands in April 1999 and was the inspiration behind long-running festival All Tomorrow’s Parties. Its line-up featured the likes of Sleater-Kinney, The Flaming Lips, and Snow Patrol.

The Glaswegian band have now confirmed who will join them as they sail from Barcelona to Sardinia’s Cagliari between August 8-12, 2019. Mogwai and Camera Obscura, who both performed at the Bowlie Weekender, will appear, as will the likes of Hinds, Buzzcocks, and Django Django.




The full line-up so far is as follows:

Belle & Sebastian

Mogwai

Camera Obscura

Django Django

Alvvays

The Buzzcocks

Japanese Breakfast

Honeyblood

Hinds

Kelly Lee Owens

Nilüfer Yanya

Whyte Horses

Tracyanne and Danny

In a press release, the band said: “We’ve asked around, we collected the first shipmates. They’re going to earn their passage by playing their best for you, digging deep into their musical reservoirs. We’re really going to try to make this a great holiday. We’d love to have you along for the trip!”

As well as live performances, the Boaty Weekender will feature one-of-a-kind artist collaborations, Q&As, storyteller and panel sessions, theme parties, group activities, custom event merchandise, and more.

Guests who book in the first 350 staterooms on the cruise ship will get access to a special performance of the album ‘Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like A Peasant’. The record has never been performed in its entirety before. All guests who reserve a stateroom during the pre-sale, meanwhile, will receive an exclusive Boaty Weekender vinyl.


Fans can register for access to the pre-sale here. More names will be added to the line-up soon.

Last year, Belle & Sebastian frontman Stuart Murdoch responded to Noel Gallagher‘s claims that music and culture was a lot “freer” in the ’90s. Speaking to NME, Murdoch said: “He’s just saying it’s freer because he doesn’t realise he’s so rich and privileged.

“That’s probably his perception of freedom. On the whole, people are probably freer to express themselves now more than any other time in history. Anybody can make a record these days.”