This August the small village of Houghton will once again play host to Craig Richards’ acclaimed music and arts festival. Now in its third year, Houghton Festival seems to have bypassed all the obstacles and pitfalls a relatively new festival would normally face, to establish itself as a premier edition on the festival circuit, both here in the UK and abroad.

In its first year, many people struggled to get their heads around non-stop music and programming for 72-hours, having to pick and choose when to nap in and amongst a packed line-up. In 2018, there was the chance to view amazing Damien Hirst sculptures among the impressive gardens of Houghton Hall, in juxtaposition to the mind bending early hours sets at the Terminus. 2019 already promises to be another unmissable highlight.

Richards will continue to build on the theme, with careful and considered curation of both art and music in the beautiful Norfolk countryside. As well as inviting the familiar faces such as Ricardo Villalobos, DBridge, Ben UFO and Helena Hauff, this year, there will be debuts from the likes of Four Tet, Bruce and  DJ Stingray. There are also plans to develop the Pinters stage to a “360 soundscape listening environment”, inviting artists from further afield on the musical spectrum. Jazz, ambient and experimental sounds from the likes of Estonian violinist and vocalist Maarja Nuut, the rapidly rising Object Blue and UK jazz pioneers Matthew Halsall and the Elliot Galvin Trio.

In its short three years Houghton has already provided countless legendary sets from the likes of Call Super, Sonja Moonear and Joy Orbison. 2019 promises to offer up countless more: expect Palms Trax, Powder, Saoirse, Jensen Interceptor and live sets from Harvey Sutherland, DMX Krew, Radioactive Man and Magic Mountain High on their welcome return.

As ever, demand for tickets is extremely high. General admission tickets are still on sale at the time of writing, but don’t expect them to hang around for too long. Grab yours via Resident Advisor.

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