JOIN US FOR A WEEKEND IN OUTER SPACE, WITH AN award-winning line-up of music, science and cosmic culturE, PLUS live podcasts, immersive experiences and groundbreaking arts guaranteed to blow the minds of adults and inquisitive children alike…

EXPLORE BLUEDOT

We’re so excited to unveil our first wave of bluedot 2023, a unique carnival of music, science and cosmic culture beneath Cheshire’s iconic Lovell Telescope.

Grace Jones, Pavement (only UK show of 2023), Roisin Murphy and Leftfield joining the already announced Max Richter and the BBC Concert Orchestra at the iconic Jodrell Bank Observatory from 20–23 July 2023.

Also announced are Mercury prize winners Young Fathers, art rockers Django Django, feted post-punk four piece Dry Cleaning, Malian desert blues pioneers Tinariwen and experimental rockers Black Country, New Road, plus a Sunday Closing Party headlined by the iconic Annie Mac.

Nubya Garcia, Georgia, Max Cooper (3D AV), David Holmes, Beak>, Gwenno, Teleman, CMAT, Lava La Rue, Big Joanie, Skinny Pelembe, Scalping, Belief, Pictish Trail, Divorce, Madmadmad and Radiophonic Workshop also join the first wave of the festival’s music line-up. 

bluedot has also revealed the first science names visiting the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Jodrell Bank Observatory, including BBC Sky at Night’s Chris Lintott and Maggie Aderin-Pocock, Brainiac Live and renowned climate change researcher and author Mike Berners-Lee, whose How Bad Are Bananas? was named by The Independent as one of its ten recommended “best books to help you live more sustainably”. UK Space Agency’s Libby Jackson OBE and The Open University’s Professor of Planetary and Space Science Monica Grady CBE will also return to the festival. The full science bill will be revealed in the coming weeks. 

There is also a first taste of the culture and comedy line-up including a David Bowie special edition of Adam Buxton’s Bug!, a screening and in-conversation with Moonage Daydream director, writer and producer Brett Morgen and an afternoon with White Rabbit Books featuring talks with Mogwai’s Stuart Braithwaite, Lias Saoudi of Fat White Family, and 90’s icon Miki Berenyi, whose book Fingers Crossed: How Music Saved Me From Success was named Rough Trade’s book of the year for 2022.

Families are well catered for with a host of exciting and interactive entertainment from Our Kids Social Silent Disco, Pop-Up Puppet Cinema and the ever popular Jedi Lightsaber Training and gourmets will delight in the VIP Village curated by Manchester-based food charity Eatwell and featuring some of the very best food and drink brands in the region including Dishoom, Caroline Martins, Where the Light GetsIn, Another Hand and more.

‘A triumphant return… myriad of eclectic delights and musical highlights’ – BBC

‘A unique festival in which science and music go hand-in-hand, and where homemade spacesuits are as plentiful as band T-shirts’ – The Guardian

★★★★ The Guardian · ★★★★★ Manchester Evening News · ★★★★ The Times