EMBRACE have announced details of the third edition of their annual THE SECRET FESTIVAL for summer 2016. The Yorkshire band first held THE SECRET FESTIVAL at Knebworth House in Hertfordshire in 2014 and the event went on to win BEST NEW FESTIVAL at the UK Festival Awards that year.
In 2015 the band moved the festival to Lotherton Hall, near Leeds in West Yorkshire for another successful event which received two nominations, BEST SMALL FESTIVAL and the GRASS ROOTS AWARD, at last year’s UK Festival Awards.
The band liked the Yorkshire location so much last year that they’ve decided to stage this summer’s festival at the same site. EMBRACE front man DANNY MCNAMARA said: “There was such a great family atmosphere about the festival last summer that we had to keep it there; it feels like we’ve found our home, for now at least. Also, we’re very proud of our Yorkshire roots so it’s good to be able to put something back into the local community”.
THE SECRET FESTIVAL will take place on SATURDAY 3 SEPTEMBER and will feature EMBRACE alongside a host of surprise guests, the identity of which will remain a closely guarded secret until the day of the event. Previous surprise guests at the festival have included THE MAGIC NUMBERS, STARSAILOR, GOMEZ, GRANT NICHOLAS from FEEDER, DAVE MCCABE from THE ZUTONS and Leeds legends CUD.
The band are remaining tight-lipped about who will be playing THE SECRET FESTIVAL this year but DANNY MCNAMARA has promised some big surprises. “Each year the expectations get bigger and the pressure is on us to deliver but I reckon we’ve got it covered; we’ve got some very exciting surprises up our sleeve.”
The band came up with the idea of THE SECRET FESTIVAL after years of playing Secret Gigs in weird and wonderful locations such as caves, forests, boats and stately homes. The idea to expand the Secret Gig concept to a festival was one the band had been working on for some years.
As DANNY MCNAMARA explains: “It was always an ambition of ours; we knew the Secret Gig idea was something that our fans loved and we wanted to see if we could bring the excitement and magic of those shows to a festival format. Also a lot of our fans who have grown up with us now have children and we wanted an event that would be a great experience for all ages”.
To coincide with THE SECRET FESTIVAL, EMBRACE will release their first new music since their eponymous fifth studio album in 2014 which reached the Top 5 of the UK album charts. The new 3 track EP, entitled THE SECRET EP, will be available exclusively on the day of the festival. Featuring new tracks LOVE IS A BASIC NEED, BASH THE RAT and THE WHITE ALIEN, the EP was produced by RICHARD MCNAMARA from the band.
The EP will available digitally and on limited edition 10” picture disc. Talking about the new recording, DANNY MCNAMARA said: “We started recording the new album a few weeks ago and all this great material started coming out. We didn’t want to wait, and we wanted to come up with something to make The Secret Festival even more special. Hopefully the new songs will be the icing on the cake of a great weekend”.
For further details on THE SECRET FESTIVAL, including how to buy tickets, visit the festival website at:
