ONE of the creators of one of the albums of the year and son of rock and roll icon Ian Dury has been announced as one of the headliners of next year's Port Eliot Festival.

Baxter Dury will headline the Caught by the River stage on the first day of the festival in 2018. The announcement follows the release last month of his album ‘Prince of Tears’, a beautifully orchestrated record, full of vitriol and heartbreak, introducing the unrivalled bravado of character ‘Miami’ - aka ‘Mr Maserati’- and culminating in the emotional finale of the title song.

Baxter Dury will headline on Thursday 26 July, the biggest Thursday of music since the festival began in 2003. Weekend tickets and 50/50 deposit tickets are available now at porteliotfestival.com/buy-tickets

Festival co-founder, Catherine St Germans, said, “We were planning to wait until the New Year for one big line-up announcement but couldn’t wait to share the news of our first headliner.

"Baxter Dury’s live performances are gripping and we are already finding it hard to wait until he takes to the Caught by the River stage with his band at St Germans.

"Caught by the River is one of the great institutions of Port Eliot – they’ve been an important part of the festival for years now – and it’s always a treat for us when their line-up starts to emerge. Thursday’s line-up is only available to weekend ticket holders - no day tickets are on sale - so it is well worth booking an extra day off and getting here for the full experience.”

Jeff Barrett, co-founder of Caught by the River, said, “Without revealing too much too soon, there’s going to be a lot more live music on our stage this year. Now Baxter Dury has confirmed - how great is that! Miami is single of the year for me - we’re working on a strong supporting cast for Thursday, so definitely take this as a heads-up and make sure to be in the queue as the gates open. Saturday night is already shaping up to be pretty wild and adventurous as usual - think The Comet is Coming last year and the shock and awe of Bo Ningen in 2015 - but more about that later...”

In 2018, the first day of the festival will see a full day of music at the Caught by the River stage and across the other festival stages and venues. More details of the line-up will be revealed in the New Year.

Running from 26-29 July 2018, Port Eliot Festival takes over the park and woodlands of the ancient Port

Eliot estate at St Germans on the Rame Peninsula in south east Cornwall. It also finds its way into the

indescribable historic House (the oldest continually inhabited dwelling in the country) and into the oldest

church in Cornwall. There are no off-limits ‘luxury’ areas and no in-your-face sponsors - the ancient estate

becomes yours for the weekend.

Port Eliot wanders from words and music to fashion and food and on to science, wellbeing, art, film, comedy and many places in between and far beyond. The riverside stage of Caught by the River, the online gathering place for all who treasure wildlife, nature, writing, reading, great music and undiscovered heroes (not to mention good beer), reflects these healthy obsessions and is one of the great institutions of the festival.

Dates: 26-29 July 2018.

Tickets and more information: porteliotfestival.com

Venue: Port Eliot Estate, St Germans, Saltash, Cornwall, PL12 5ND