Sky Arts' season of unmissable music festivals returns with three nights of live 3D interactive coverage from The Isle of Wight Festival, live coverage of the Cambridge Folk Festival as well as the best music highlights from Download, Hard Rock Calling and Cropredy Festivals.

Isle of Wight Festival Live – from 22^nd-24^th June 6pm Sky Arts 1 HD, Sky 3D, Sky 1 & Sky Go  

Sky Arts returns as the broadcast partner of the Isle of Wight Festival. This year Sky will increase its commitment to the festival, broadcasting live for 6 hours a day offering Sky customers a weekend packed full of music across Sky Arts 1, Sky 3D and Sky Go, with a best-of-the fest round-up show on Sky 1.

This year the festival will be presented by a team of established and familiar music experts and enthusiasts including; Zoe Ball, Jo Whiley, Shaun Keaveny, Tom Ravenscroft, AJ Odudu and Mathew Horne. The team will bring viewers coverage from the main stages as well as interviews backstage and all the gossip from the VIP enclosure.

Sky Arts 1 will be at the heart of the music action, taking in the biggest acts, headlines and longer sets from the Main Stage and Big Top together with the choice to view extra acts and backstage interviews from Sky’s onsite studio via the interactive service. Acts featured at the festival include; Elbow, Example, Tom Petty, Noah & The Whale, Pearl Jam, Biffy Clyro, Tinie Tempah, Jessie J, Labrinth, Madness, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, The Vaccines and Band of Skulls.

Broadcasting 6 hours a day in 3D on the Sky 3D channel makes this the longest ever non-Sport outside broadcast ever shown on the channel and will bring viewers closer than ever before to the real-life festival experience.

Sky's coverage of the Isle of Wight festival will continue their commitment to innovation and development of their multi-platforms. For the first time, viewers will be able to submit their comments about the live performances and see them featured in-show via an on-screen social media ticker. Two extra feeds will be produced for the red button including a continuously changing 30-minute loop bringing viewers all the best performances from elsewhere on the festival stages.

Sky's partnership with Zeebox will continue with a unique companion second-screen experience where users will be able to instantly download tracks from the performers at the festival as well as enjoy exclusive acoustic performances from some of the weekend's most exciting acts.

The Cambridge Folk Festival– Highlights 26^th July 5.30pm – Live from 27-28^th July 5pm

Zoe Ball, Mark Radcliffe and folk artist Julie Fowlis will present Sky Arts coverage of one the longest running and most famous folk festivals in the world. Featuring performances from the main stages plus intimate live sessions in the studio and grounds of the beautiful Cherry Hinton Hall, Sky Arts will bring customers highlights of Friday evening’s music sessions and live coverage on Saturday and Sunday of the very  best traditional folk artists from the UK and Ireland rubbing shoulders with contemporary acts and the finest country, blues and roots artists and singer songwriters. Actor Stephen Mangan will join the presenting team on Sunday to share his passion for all things folk.  

The festival line-up includes: Clannad, The Unthanks, Joan Armatrading, Nanci Griffith, Angelique Kidjo, Seth Lakeman, The Proclaimers, James Vincent McMorrow, Roy Harper, June Tabor and Oysterband.

Download – Highlights 6^th & 13^th July 9pm Sky Arts 1 HD & Sky Go

Donington Park will once again play host to some of the biggest hard rock and metal bands on the planet for the 10th annual Download rock festival. The Prodigy and Metallica, will headline this year's event, which also features Chase and Status and Biffy Clyro.

Hard Rock Calling – Highlights 17^th August 9pm Sky Arts 1 HD & Sky Go

Filmed over three days during the height of summer Hard Rock Calling has established itself as one of the best central London rock festivals which attracts some of the world’s most legendary artists. Hyde Park will boom to the sound of Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band, the legendary Paul Simon and American grunge band Soundgarden. Sky Arts will be on hand to capture theses unmissable legendary acts.

Cropredy – Highlights 31^st August 9pm Sky Arts 1 HD & Sky Go

Every August the pretty Oxfordshire village of Cropredy welcomes over 20,000 music-lovers for the unique Fairport’s Cropredy Convention. It’s an annual event that has been held since the 1970s and a festival which has a real sense of tradition. This is reflected in the music and acts it attracts which include, Bellowhead, Squeeze, Richard Thompson, Joan Armatrading and Fairport Convention and Friends.

“Sky Arts Festival Season aims to offer Sky customers the most dynamic and inclusive festival coverage,” comments James Hunt, channel director of Sky Arts. “Whether customers are at the festival themselves, watching highlights and live coverage at home on Sky Arts, Sky 3D and Sky Go or using Sky’s interactive service there is an unmissable music experience for everyone wherever they are.”

In recent years, Sky Arts has increased its commitment to coverage of the UK’s music scene. Last year the channel broadcast two hours a day live coverage from the Isle Of Wight, Latitude and Bestival festivals and continues to broadcast high-profile music series including The Jo Whiley Music Show and Ronnie Wood Show.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT

Katherine Solomon PR Manager, Sky Press Office

T: 0207 032 0599

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Dominic Collett Sky Arts Publicist, Sky Press Office

T: 0207 032 4892

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NOTES TO EDITOR

Sky Arts

Sky is the only broadcaster in the UK and Ireland with channels dedicated solely to the arts, with 48 hours of the best arts content from around the world across Sky Arts 1 and Sky Arts 2 daily. Recent highlights include the latest season of the Met Opera, Chekhov Comedy Shorts, a season of brand new plays starring the cream of British comedic talent, Tim Marlow on Sculpture 3D and The South Bank Sky Arts Awards.

Sky Arts also seeks to connect with culture on the ground; creating and collaborating with the best of the arts in the UK and Ireland to bring new experiences to life. The flagship show, The Book Show, now goes to four literary festivals including Hay and Cheltenham. Sky Arts Creative Wish is part of Sky Arts Ignition Series which launched in in 2011 to invest in the arts landscape of the UK. The Series will seek to collaborate with six arts organisations over the next three years in the creation of brand new works; Sky Arts Ignition Series: Futures Fund will support five young artists with a bursary of £30,000 each, enabling Sky Arts to back the creation of new works of art as well as nurture emerging talent. Sky Arts also encourages new formats and methods for accessing opera; beaming the world’s first live opera in 3D to cinemas across the UK and Ireland from ENO. Follow us on twitter @skyarts. See sky.com/arts

Sky's coverage of some of this summer's biggest music festivals is part of a commitment to increase investment in home-grown British programming to £600m by 2014, which marks an increase of more than 50% over three years.

The Isle Of Wight Festival

Each year the Isle of Wight Festival brings together free spirited festivalgoers, in a truly beautiful setting. It is undoubtedly one of the most distinctive and best-loved festivals on the calendar and the three UK Festival Awards for ‘Best Major UK Festival’, ‘Outstanding Greener Festival’ and ‘Outstanding Contribution to Festivals’ (awarded to John Giddings) are proof of just that. Renowned for giving the crowd an eclectic & electric mix of music each year and already boasting a line up of world class acts.

Make sure you head to the official Isle of Wight Festival Facebook site Facebook.com/iwfestival for all the latest Festival updates, exclusive news, videos & interviews. And follow the Festival on Twitter @IsleofWightFest to get up to the minute tweets to keep you in the know!

Sky Backstage - Sky Rewards at the Isle of Wight Festival

Sky TV customers will get more from their summer festival experience than ever before as Sky Rewards bring the essence of Sky Backstage from its home at The O2, London to the Isle of Wight FestivalSky TV customers will be offered an enhanced festival experience within an exclusive area at the festival. Sky TV customers who hold festival tickets can reserve a spot within Sky Backstage, located within the main arena of the site, for free. The area will include the Sky Arts Secret Garden and bar; 3D screens streaming live coverage from the main stage; professional make-up artists providing Glittermasque and unique photo opportunities for festival-goers to share and relive their festival memories.  

Absolute Radio

Absolute Radio will be broadcasting live from the Isle of Wight Festival and Hard Rock Calling all weekend with exclusive artist interviews and live, uninterrupted stage sets from the star studded line-ups. There will be tons of added content and extra coverage for mobile and online too at www.absoluteradio.co.uk with exclusive video interviews, photos, news and more.