LIVING ROOM STAGE LINE-UP ANNOUNCED FOR SECRET GARDEN PARTY VOTED Best Small Festival, twice, in 2005 and 2008, by the festival awards, and Best Music Festival by Radio One in 2007, The Secret Garden Party returns in July.

LIVING ROOM STAGE LINE-UP ANNOUNCED FOR SECRET GARDEN PARTY

VOTED Best Small Festival, twice, in 2005 and 2008, by the festival awards, and Best Music Festival by Radio One in 2007, The Secret Garden Party returns in July for another four glorious days of established bands and hotly-tipped new talent.

This year’s theme is Fact or Fiction, with inspiration from Heath Robinson, Escher and Dali. Headliners include Mercury Rev and Gorrilaz Sound System.

A major part of it, as always, is The Living Room stage, with the cream of new acoustic acts performing.

We have the line up: Thursday, July 22 (in order of appearance): Revere, Big 10, Jimmy The Brute (DJ). Friday, July 23: Paul Liddell, Dave Peers, Kerry and The Giants, Charlene Soraia, Rodney Branigan, The Title Sequence, UTE, The Boy Who Trapped The Sun, Michael Kiwanuka, The Guilty Ones, Matt Gresham, Hoodlums, Alice Gold, Stac, Animal Kingdom, The Jessie Rose Trip, Wellsey (DJ). Saturday July 24: Dotjir, Ryan Keen, Jay Leighton, King Jim, Max Touhy, The Darker Side Of Revere, Adelaide’s Cape, Ed Sheeran, John Blood, Passenger, Leddra Chapman, Joe Echo, Lisa Mitchell, Eliza Doolittle, James Yuill, Yes Sir Boss, Pocket Lips, Wellsey (DJ). Sunday, July 25: Jon Bilbrough, Chris Bond, Alexander Wolfe, Ivan Campo, Ethan Ash, Matthew P, Ben Howard, Mr B The Gentleman Rhymer, Park Bench Poet, Josh Weller, Newrising, Trio Manouche, The Brute Chorus.

INFORMATION: Promising parades, art tents, walkabout theatre, theatre workshops, rides, swimming and treasure hunts, The Secret Garden Party is at Abbotts Ripton from July 22-25. Tickets: �142 including parking and camping. Ages 13-17, �110, under 12s admitted free. Campervans �45. See: www.secretgardenparty.com

Interview by PAUL RICHARDS

EVERY now and then you meet a singer-songwriter who completely loves what they’re doing for a living.

Having released two studio albums, with another on the way, Passenger front man Mike Rosenberg has been touring solo for the last year. I caught up with the Brighton-based songwriter ahead of his sold out performance at CB2 in Cambridge.

“The expectation was very high early on,” Rosenberg explained, talking of the band’s big-budget debut album Wicked Man’s Rest, released in 2003.

“But I prefer things now - in a roundabout way, I have more control, I’ve sold 7,000 albums just from busking.”

Busking has been a way in which Passenger has continued to connect with their fans. Rosenberg was planning on two days busking in Cambridge before the performance on Friday night. A six-month busking tour of Australia was so successful he is going back there in September to do it all again.

He speaks highly of his regular visits to Cambridge, and in particular Huntingdonshire - where he has played the Secret Garden Party several times, returning this year. He says it is his favourite festival to play and he was quick to add: “I’m not just saying that because I’m chatting to a Huntingdon newspaper.”

With his likeable manner and willingness to connect with his fans, Mike Rosenberg, currently the sole member of Passenger, is always going to sell albums, but it’s his knack of writing the perfect pop/folk song which surely adds to his continued worldwide appeal. With a forthcoming tour supporting Jools Holland, two albums on the verge of release and a return to Australia, Passenger remain one of the bright sparks of the UK indie scene and a reminder that you don’t have to be signed to a major label to truly live the dream.

INFORMATION: Passenger is at The Bathhouse, 3 Benet Street, Cambridge on Wednesday, July 28. Free entry. See: www.passengerofficial.com