Rea­son to cel­e­brate: Beard­ed The­o­ry fes­ti­val 2022 has just announced a sec­ond wave of artists which we’re reveal­ing right now. And they’re a crack­er. Or maybe that should be crack­ers, but that does­n’t sound right. 

So here we go… tick, tick, boom! Yes, The Hives have joined the line­up and they’re well-known as a bril­liant live act, so will no doubt go down a storm with the Beard­ed The­o­ry crowd. Also signed up are Frank Turn­er and the Sleep­ing Souls. Frank and crew have been very active dur­ing lock­down, rais­ing funds for the Music Venue Trust to keep our grass­roots venues from going under. 

Gourmet Gigs were ear­ly fans of Work­ing Men’s Club and inter­viewed them after the release of their first sin­gle Bad Blood… the Heb­den Bridge crew are now set to rock Beard­ed The­o­ry’s main stage. Also on the line­up, Bil­ly Nomates, Brighton’s Yon­a­ka, and … Man­ches­ter band Afflecks Palace.

Also: indie rock trio Lit­tle Com­mets, synth pop band Echo Machine and exper­i­men­tal-punk duo Bob Vylan. Not­ting­ham’s Do Noth­ing, indie rock band Jaws, Crys­tal Palace based two-piece JOHN and Popes of Chill­i­town.

Already on the line­up are Place­bo, Pat­ti Smith and The Flam­ing Lips. There are plen­ty of Beardy favourites, returnees such as: 3 Daft Mon­keys, Fero­cious Dog, Gaz, Brook­field, Dread­zone, and a recent big favourite, Dubioza Kolek­tiv.

Beard­ed The­o­ry is a great way to start the fes­ti­val sea­son, tak­ing place over the May Bank Hol­i­day. There are a total of nine stages promised for next year, with the main stage and more inti­mate Wood­land Stage host­ing most of the artists. There is, as always, a fab­u­lous line­up for kids. And many of us will be hop­ing for the return of the Mag­i­cal Sounds tent for world music and psy­che­del­ic wonderment. 

Beard­ed The­o­ry remains one of the best val­ue fes­ti­vals with adult tick­ets at only £135 per person. 

Beard­ed The­o­ry Spring Gath­er­ing, 26 – 29 May, Cat­ton Hall, Der­byshire
Tick­ets avail­able now