GUILFEST music festival will be staged next month after an absence of eight years, with acts including Sister Sledge, Peter Hook – the Joy Division and New Order bass player – and The Wurzels.
The revived GuilFest, which was staged in Guildford from 1992 to 2014, will be held at Hurtwood Park Polo Club, near Cranleigh, on 16 and 17 July.
There will not be any overnight camping at the festival, that will start at 12pm each day, but there will be shuttle buses from Guildford railway station and back.
Other acts that will perform on the three stages include Baccara, The Jones Gang, featuring former Small Faces and The Who drummer Kenney Jones, who owns the polo club, and the tribute bands Bjorn Again, Counterfeit Stones and Definitely Oasis.
There will be a comedy tent with a line-up led by Simon Brodkin and Paul McCaffrey, a wellness and yoga garden, art and craft village stalls and a wide variety of food and drink.
Tickets are limited to 5,000 each day.
Tony Scott, the organiser, said: “We’re so excited to be bringing GuilFest back again after all these years.
“It will be great to see many of the old faces and new faces dancing in the crowd – it’s going to be an amazing weekend party to lift everyone’s spirits after the past couple of years.”
Tony said there could be some surprise stars, especially in The Jones Gang.
“It’s Kenney Jones plus friends. Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood are kind of his best mates and Eric Clapton lives down the road. You never know who’s going to turn up,” Tony said.
He said he was particularly pleased to have Baccara, best known for Yes Sir, I Can Boogie, which was Number One in the charts in 1977 in Britain and across Europe, and Sister Sledge, who had huge hits with We Are Family, Frankie, He’s the Greatest Dancer, and Lost in Music.
“A lot of people think we’ve got a tribute act, but it is the real Sister Sledge,” Tony said.
“Another real gem is Peter Hook & The Light. Peter Hook is the engine room of Joy Division.
“We’ve also got Bez from the Happy Mondays and Dodgy, who have got some of the best summer tunes.”
Dodgy, who played at GuilFest in 2012, had hits in the mid-1990s with Good Enough, Staying Out for the Summer and If You're Thinking of Me.
There will also be a performance by Johnny Moped, who Tony described as “more punk rock than the Sex Pistols”, who formed in 1974 and were the subject of a Netflix documentary.
“We’ve also got a games tent this year so people can go in and have a game of Monopoly or chess or backgammon,” Tony said.
“There will also be interactive games, including some old ones, like Space Invaders.
“There will be all sorts of things going on.
“It’s just like the old GuilFest and its great to have it back.”
Tony added that he hopes the festival is such a success that it will again become an annual event.
For tickets and more information, visit www.guilfest.co.uk