Jake Bugg and Tom Grennan announced for Hit the North Festival

Jake Bugg, Tom Grennan and The Blinders have been announced as the first wave of acts for next year's Hit The North Festival.
Jake BuggJake Bugg
Jake Bugg

Also on the line-up are Catherine McGrath, Blaenavon and Dylan Cartlidge have also been confirmed for the festival which returns to Newcastle on May Bank Holiday, Sunday May 5.

As well as major headline artists, Hit the North will showcase a large range of new acts across all its participating venues.

Catherine McGrathCatherine McGrath
Catherine McGrath
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Taking place across a range of music venues and alternative spaces, the festival will see Jake Bugg - one of the UK’s most prolific and celebrated singer-songwriters of recent times - make a welcome return to Tyneside on the back of four critically acclaimed albums.

The artist’s self-titled debut album spawned hit singles such as Lightning Bolt, Simple As This, and Two Fingers and the Nottingham-born star has promised to perform all of his greatest hits to date alongside new material from his eagerly anticipated fifth studio album.

Jake Bugg joins the ranks of previous Hit The North headliners such as The Horrors, Peace and Rat Boy and will perform on the same bill as fellow headliner this year, Tom Grennan. Grennan, a product of Insanity Records is one of the UK’s brightest singer-songwriter talents right now.

After his single Royal Highness premiered as Annie Mac’s Hottest Record in the World, Tom rapidly gained a large fan base resulting in two sell-out tours in one year.

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Having first found fame as a guest vocalist on Chase & Status’ track When It All Goes Wrong, it’s evident that it’s now his own music that has caught the public’s attention.

Speaking about today’s announcement, Hit the North festival organiser, Steve Davis, said: “The last Hit the North was a huge success from our point of view, all artists, venues and most importantly, the customers loved it. It was great to see music fans running around the city centre heading freely in and out of venues and we’re delighted it will make a return in 2018.

“We’ve got big hopes for this year’s gathering and we’re confident there’ll be something for all new music fans to get their teeth into. It’s going to be some festival and is not to be missed. Stay tuned more updates and announcements.”

The Blinders, famed for their riotous live sets, will also head to the North East as part of this year’s festival, bringing with them their own unique blend of infectious punk rock and sharp social commentary.

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Hailed as one of the UK’s brightest indie talents right now, their first album release Columbia has been lauded by the critics and has received constant airtime and coverage from the likes of Clash Magazine and BBC Radio 1.

Representing the UK’s best female talent, Catherine McGrath and Lauren Aquilina will also perform high up on this year’s billing, bridging the gap between pop and compelling storytelling.

Early Bird tickets for Hit the North 2019 have sold out and General Admission tickets are on sale now for the main event priced at £37.50 (£41.25 with booking fee).