TWO major chart-topping indie legends are set to headline the Saturday night of the 2023 Whitehaven Alive festival this September.

The Vaccines and Jake Bugg have been announced as the first of many headliners for the September event on Whitehaven Harbour - they’ll grace the Mitie Main Stage on Saturday, September 9.

The Vaccines are true stalwarts of British indie-rock scene, the band have achieved five top 10 albums to date, including 2012’s number one record Come of Age, and they’ll will be sure to rock the 2023 Whitehaven Alive with hits such as If You Wanna, Norgaard, and Teenage Icon.

29-year-old Jake Bugg is a British singer-songwriter whose first album, the self-titled ‘Jake Bugg’, reached number one in the UK album charts in 2012. 

Joining the support bill for the Saturday evening concerts will be Tribes, a four-piece indie rock band, and local bands The Northern Threads and Danny Dunnery.

The artists are joining a packed Whitehaven Alive programme, taking place September 8- 10, featuring famous faces, live entertainment, food and drink villages, Cumbrian producers, and street theatre across Whitehaven Harbour.

Justin Young of the Vaccines, spoke of his excitement: “Nothing and nowhere beats playing festivals in the UK.

"It's increasingly rare we get to go do it somewhere new for the first time, so we're incredibly excited to come and lose our minds with the good people of Whitehaven in September and give them every last bit of blood, sweat and tears we have left!”

Oliver Hodgson Founder and Executive Director said: “It’s brilliant to see our line-up start to come together for this year’s Whitehaven Alive festival, last year’s inaugural event was a great success for the area, and we’re really looking forward to building on that for 2023.

“The artists we’re pulling into the town across the weekend are incredible and will provide a much bigger platform for all the local talent that’ll also be joining headliners on the Mitie Main Stage.”

Executive director Danny Maudling said: “We’re thrilled with the line-up that we’ve put together for the Whitehaven Alive weekend, and to launch with some huge names in the indie scene is setting the bar incredibly high.

“The Vaccines, Jake Bugg and Tribes are among some of the best names, and we’re excited to see them grace our festival, bringing so many people together this September. We’ve got even more massive names to announce for the Friday and Sunday shows.”

“Months in the planning, and an incredible team effort to be able to announce our first headliners this week, who will be rocking it out in our Quay Street Harbourside music arena this September, which we’ve just had the license approved for, exciting times,” said Liz Cannon, executive director.

John Baker, chief executive of Whitehaven Harbour Commissioners added: “We are thrilled to be the venue for Whitehaven Alive 2023. The line-up that the team have put together is incredibly exciting.

"When we first discussed the event what we wanted to do was to reach as wide an audience as possible and make it a celebration that all our communities can engage with and enjoy."

Tickets for the Saturday night harbour show are available now via www.whitehavenalive.com