Fringe By The Sea has announced the first wave of acts performing for its 17th edition, with a tranche of major bands, big-name speakers, kids shows and more. Taking place from Friday 1–Sunday 10 August, tickets for all announced shows are on sale now. 

In a major coup for the North Berwick-based festival, French electronic act Air (pictured above) will perform on Saturday 2 August, celebrating 25 years of their worldwide hit debut album, Moon Safari, which birthed the singles ‘Kelly Watch The Stars’, ‘All I Need’ and the ubiquitous ‘Sexy Boy’. This will be the first time the album is performed in full in Scotland. 

Also on the musical agenda is Bob Geldof’s veteran punk act The Boomtown Rats, who are celebrating the 40th anniversary of their gig at Live Aid. Expect to hear plenty of classics from their back catalogue, including ‘I Don’t Like Mondays’, ‘Rat Trap’ and ‘She’s So Modern’.  In a similar vein is 1980s Scottish punks The Bluebells, who’ll help open the festival with their hit singles ‘Young At Heart’, ‘Cath’ and ‘I’m Falling’ and a wealth of new material. 

Political mainstay and broadcaster Rory Stewart will pay North Berwick a visit, to discuss his books The Places In Between and Politics On The Edge, as well as his successful podcast The Rest Is Politics. The architect, writer and broadcaster George Clarke will also appear to discuss the value of beautiful architecture and his Home Educational Charity MOBIE (Ministry Of Building Innovation And Education).

For kids, Brainiac Live! will guide audiences through the ‘weird and the wonderful’ of scientific enquiry, with wild experiments and plenty of things that ‘kids are too scared to do at home’. 

Festival director Rory Steel said, ‘As we start to roll out the first acts for the 17th Fringe By The Sea, we are already bringing together a programme which in the true spirit of a fringe and a celebration of the arts, offers up something for everyone. We're working hard to top last year and with what's set to be a stratospheric performance by Air and guests including the best-selling author Rory Stewart, we are on our way! Look out for more events being announced over the next few months with the full programme available in June.’

Fringe By The Sea, North Berwick, Friday 1–Saturday 10 August; main picture: Mathieu Rainaud.