Lake of Stars Festival announced Club Reviews   | Club Guide   |   Bar Guide   |  Global Events   FULL FESTIVAL DETAILS PLUS THE UNABOMBERS PLAY A LAKE OF STARS PARTY AT BUMPER MARCH 9TH FULL FESTIVAL DETAILS PLUS THE UNABOMBERS PLAY A LAKE OF STARS PARTY AT BUMPER MARCH 9TH THE LAKE OF STARS FESTIVAL The Guardian: ‘The event is pitched somewhere between a Womad-style showcase and a north of England rave’ Lake of Stars 2007 International Malawi Music Festival 5th – 7th October @ Chintheche Inn, Northern Malawi Africa Combining Western artists with acts from all over Southern Africa the fourth Lake of Stars Festival takes place in October this year. Head out to Malawi, deep in the middle of Africa, for a music event like no other. Since 2004 the unique festival has slowly been growing on the shores of Lake Malawi. The Lake of Stars Festival is a three day charity event that has featured Felix B (Basement Jaxx), Groove Armada’s Andy Cato, Mikey General (Bugz in the Attic), DJ Yoda, Tikhu Vibrations and the Black Missionaries (ten piece reggae group). Felix B (Basement Jaxx): ‘It was a truly amazing and unique adventure to travel to the heart of Africa. I’ve never met such friendly people with such a passion for music. All in all a fantastic holiday and a real eye-opening experience.’ LINE-UP SO FAR... Gilles Peterson (BBC Radio 1/Worldwide) Annie Mac (BBC Radio 1) Rob da Bank (BBC Radio 1/Bestival) Malawian acts to be announced Joe Driscoll - live Stuart Patterson (Faith) The Black Missionaries – live The Wombats – live Mulletover (London) Chibuku Shake Shake (London/Liverpool) Dirty Disco (Leeds) Chew the Fat! (London) Bodytonic (Dublin) Horse Meat Disco (London) Wax: On (Newcastle) Ste Hodge (Common Ground Pierre-Estienne (South Africa) Shaun Duvet (South Africa)) The Real Estate Agents – live (South Africa) Dexterity (South Africa) Damian (South Africa) Plus many more… Songlines Magazine: ‘One of the world’s most extraordinary festivals’ The festival was borne from a desire to raise money for a developing economy and help promote Malawi as a tourist destination. Set on the shimmering, palm-fringed shores of Lake Malawi at Chintheche Inn, for three days Western and Malawian artists gather for a musical, social and cultural exchange which is unlike anything you will ever see or hear. This year’s guests include Radio 1’s Gilles Peterson, Rob da Bank and Annie Mac as well as rising stars The Wombats and Malawi’s biggest reggae legends, the Black Missionaries. For many the festival is the focal point of travelling around this beautiful country, forming part of an itinerary spanning what Malawi has to offer. You can travel on an organised group flight or make your own way to Malawi. Whatever you do, make sure you’re there this year to be part of something truly unforgettable! Andy Cato (Groove Armada): ‘You’ll never see music cross as many boundaries and borders as this, and you’ll never listen to music in a more special place’ Malawi: Africa’s most diverse country. You’re spoilt for choice: Lake Malawi is great for all manner of water sports: kayaking, scuba diving, snorkelling, swimming, water-skiing – all in warm, salt-free water. Climb or trek up Mount Mulanje (Central Africa’s highest peak) or the lush Zomba Plateau. Go horse riding – including riding with game. Visit some of the nine game parks. Try mountain biking through forests and past waterfalls or simply chill out on some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. Head to the festival and the stunning Chintheche Inn: waves crash onto the white sand, wide lawns and colourful gardens stretch out leading to the main stage and the beach bar, built beneath a mango tree, with decking leading out to the beach. This is a great country to meet the people: wander into traditional villages to get a greeting from the ‘warm heart of Africa’. The landscape varies from the sandy beaches to the high plateaux and mountains. Every time you turn a corner in the road there’s another completely different vista. BE PART OF THE FESTIVAL LINE-UP: We are open to booking new talent, so if you are interested in taking part in the festival please email will@lakeofstars.co.uk to secure your place. Lonely Planet: ‘The tourist brochures bill Malawi as ‘the warm heart of Africa’, and for once the hype is true. Malawi’s scenery is gorgeous and varied and Malawians are extremely friendly toward travellers.’ INFORMATION: Visit: www.lakeofstars.co.uk or www.myspace.com/lakeofstars Email: will@lakeofstars.co.uk Phone: (+ 44) (0) 772 542 8377 (+ 44) (0) 208 880 6519 TICKETS: Tickets outside of Malawi available from Ticketline: Visit: www.ticketline.co.uk Phone: (+44) (0) 161 832 1111 £40 plus booking fee Tickets in Malawi available from the following outlets: Harry’s Bar, Old Town, Lilongwe Phone: (+265) (1) 757 979 James’ Joint, Lilongwe If you cannot reach any of these outlets please email will@lakeofstars.co.uk to reserve a ticket on the gate at the festival. DJ Yoda: ‘Lake of Stars was without doubt one of the most memorable shows I’ve ever played. I’d thoroughly recommend it to anyone up for an adventure and a laugh.’ WHERE TO STAY: Malawi has a wide range of accommodation to suit every need – from simple beach huts to 5 star hotels. Accommodation during the festival is either camping on site at Chintheche Inn or staying at any of the resorts nearby (shuttle buses operate between the festival and the neighbouring lodges). Rough price guide to accommodation: Camping £3 pn, dorm bed £4 pn, private room £7pn, ensuite room £12 pn, hotel room £25 pn To arrange your festival accommodation: Email: info@wilderness.mw Phone: (+265) 1 771 393 For further accommodation info visit www.lakeofstars.co.uk and www.malawitourism.com Find out more about the country: Visit: www.malawitourism.com Email: enquiries@malawitourism.com Call: (+ 44) (0) 115 982 1903 Also check ‘The Spectrum Guide to Malawi’ by John Douglas and Kelly White or any of the Rough Guides or Lonely Planet guidebooks on Central Africa UNICEF: The festival will donate £2 of each UK ticket sale to UNICEF’s project in Malawi. As well as this Lake of Stars will donate any profit raised to UNICEF. Funds from Lake of Stars will go towards a UNICEF water supply and sanitation project in the Dowa District of Central Malawi. For more details on this please visit www.lakeofstars.co.uk HOW TO GET THERE FROM THE UK Global Link Travel: Lake of Stars has teamed up with Global Link Travel to bring you some of the lowest fares available. Global Link Travel is a charity travel company specializing in dealing with Humanitarian, Aid, Disaster relief organizations as well as charities and missionaries. Head office based in London with locations in Africa, India, USA and Brazil. Global Link will donate £5 for every air ticket issued for this festival to UNICEF. Please quote ‘Lake of Stars’ when making your booking. Global Link Travel offer return flights from London Heathrow to Malawi from £495 (includes current prepaid taxes) Phone: 0207 224 7766 Email: Fabian@globallinktravel.co.uk Office: Capricorn House, 1 Mandeville Place, London, W1U 3AW STA Travel: STA Travel and Kenya Airways have arranged group flights for the festival – there are two and three week group flight options. You can either book a place on a group flight or make your own way there. South African Airlines, Air Malawi and Kenya Airways all fly to Malawi. Please quote ‘Lake of Stars’ when making your booking. Branches of STA Travel in Liverpool and Leeds are arranging group flights so please contact: Liverpool: Phone – 0151 707 1123 Email – manager.liverpool@statravel.co.uk Leeds: Phone – 0113 244 9212 Email – manager.vicarlane@statravel.co.uk The group flights cost £650 including taxes. Deposits for these flights are £300 each to be paid by 23rd April and are non-refundable. The remainder of the flights must be paid by July 21st. These flights leave London Heathrow on 29th September with one returning on 15th October and the other on 22nd October. Places are limited on the group flights and sell out fast so please be quick if you want to book on these group flights. Terms and conditions apply: Deposits are non-refundable or transferable. Name changes are not permitted. Upon full payment no refunds are permitted. LOS are responsible for the organisation of the festival alone and will not except responsibility for any activites undertaken whilst in Malawi. Close Encounters: With many years of first-hand experience and knowledge of Eastern and Southern Africa, your personal travel advisor will lovingly design a bespoke itinerary that matches your aspirations, lifestyle and just as importantly, your budget. Close Encounters can help arrange your entire journey to the Lake of Stars and the ‘Warm heart of Africa’. Call one of our dedicated team now on: Phone – 08700 948 021 Email – info@closeencounterstravel.com Visit – www.closeencounters.com Office - Mercury House, Northgate, Nottingham, NG7 7FN TEXT TO WIN A TRIP FOR 2 TO MALAWI! Win 2 return flights plus a week’s accommodation and festival tickets by simply answering the question below: Which festival is held in Malawi A) Lake of Moons B) Lake of Fish C) Lake of Stars Text Malawi leave a space and then enter A, B or C and send it to 82070 Texts cost £1.50 plus your standard network rate Entry is via text and each text entry costs £1.50 plus your standard network rate. You must be 18 years and over to enter this competition. This is NOT a subscription service and you will NOT be re-billed. Competition closing date is 31/07/07 and the winner will be notified by phone no later than 3/08/07. Competition is run by Moyst Ltd info@moyst.com ************************************************** MARCH 9TH: LAKE OF STARS PARTY AT BUMPER WITH THE UNABOMBERS Manchester's Electric Chair heroes nip over to Liverpool to lay down some tracks alongside Chibuku's Phil Charnock, Common Ground's Ste Hodge & Alex Sweeney and the majestic Russell. Thanks to the wonderful people at Bumper the door fee remains a pitiful £1. Happy days! FRIDAY MARCH 9TH LAKE OF STARS PARTY @ BUMPER HARDMAN STREET, LIVERPOOL 8PM - 3AM £1 ENTRY UNABOMBERS (ELECTRIC CHAIR) PHIL CHARNOCK (CHIBUKU) RUSSELL STE HODGE (COMMON GROUND) ALEX SWEENEY (COMMON GROUND) UNABOMBERS/ELECTRIC CHAIR ~ BIOG I feel love. I feel it every time I walk through these doors. I lost myself here almost a decade ago, and things have never been the same since. Has it really been ten years? It seems a lot longer. It seems like yesterday. It was the summer of 1995 when The Unabombers first detonated their underground bomb, The Electric Chair, in a sweaty basement below the pavements of Manchester. In the decade since it’s become the worst kept secret in the world of clubbing. A mystic brew of house, disco, hip-hop, broken beat, Latin, R&B, techno and northern sulphuric soul. The heart of Mancunia, a fabled land where everyone parties as one - strangers and soul mates, straights and gays, north and south, students and scallies. Anyone can open a club. Not everyone can open hearts and minds. The chair outgrew its original home and moved onto a bigger basement club, The Music Box, but somehow the tricky alchemists Luke and Justin Unabomber retained the chemistry and the vibe. Over the years, I’ve had the time of my life with the best bunch of friends there, and woken up not being able to remember a thing. I’ve also danced all night on my own and remembered every minute. I’ve seen clubbing legends like Joe Claussell, Laurent Garnier and Francois Kevorkian blown away by the energy and the soul of the club. Joe was almost evangelical afterwards, returning to NYC enthusing about the ‘power and the beauty of the spiritual energy that was at that party’. The Unabombers have spread the Electriks vibe across the globe, DJ’ing everywhere from New York to Bangkok to Australia and Europe. Back home, they've played at clubs including Plastic People, Back To Basics, Fabric, Faith, Bugged Out, Slam, The End and festivals such as Electric Picnic, V Festival, Reading Festival, Homelands, T-In-The-Park and Creamfields. The Unabombers also brought us the legendary Electric Souls, which started as infamous illegal parties in brothels and lofts, but has now mutated into a large annual event that brings together the cream of the world’s underground dance talent, from Amp Fiddler to Gilles Peterson to Theo Parrish to Joey Negro. Last year they released the Get Up EP as The Elektrons to critical acclaim, with plays from Laurent Garnier, Gilles Peterson, Annie Mac, Pete Tong, Ashley Beedle amongst others with their debut album out in May 2007 on Genuine.They have also encapsulated their mystic brew on five compilation albums – Basement Soul, Saturday Night Sunday Morning, Electric Soul and Electric Soul 2 and Electric Soul 3 - as well as completing remixes for Bugz In The Attic, Truby Trio, New Sector Movements, Jersey Street, Calvin Harris, Electric South and Shur-I-Kan. This is a club to hold close to your heart. A club without a membership, but a club where you can belong. A club to treasure. A club I will tell my grandchildren about. A club I should have told my grandparents about. A club which has changed lives. A club that’s still changing lives. A club where the weak become heroes and everybody feels love. Luke Bainbridge (Observer Music Monthly)