Roskilde band booker talks about line-up

Roskilde Festival chief band booker Rikke Øxner has spoken out about the festival - saying its easier for UK fans to get to the Danish event than Glastonbury.

The has just announced its full line-up with artists including Jay-Z, Radiohead, Neil Young, The Cult, My Bloody Valentine and Kate Nash performing.

The three-day event will take place in from July 3 to 6, and is often dubbed Europe's biggest music event.

Rikke Øxner said the festival is also really easy to get to, possibly more so than Glastonbury.

She said: "We're only half-an-hour from the airport and Copenhagen and we have a platform from the festival site so it's probably much faster for UK residents to go to Roskilde than to go to Glastonbury– it's really easy to get to."

Øxner added: "With 180 acts it's a big festival and we have all those right headliners - we have Radiohead and we have Neil Young Jay-Z, and a lot of these really interesting high-profile headlining acts."

She then stated it's not all about the A-list acts they've booked, saying: "On top of that we do go so much deeper into all aspects - we try to show variety and add a little culture too."

Øxner was talking about having North African acts that don't usually play Europe such as Mamar Kassey and Vieux Fraka Toure.

There will also be bands from Brazil performing at the festival such as Orquestra Imperial.

Roskilde have also bought the new breed of singing ladies to their bill this year, with Duffy, Adele and Kate Nash all playing.

Øxner said: "It's not all about Amy Winehouse."

Roskilde differs from most British festivals as the event encourages bands to play for as long as possible. The minimum performance time is 50 minutes.

Øxner said: "We have longer sets [at Roskilde], it's not showcases and bands are playing hopefully an hour – a show has to be 50 minutes or more."

Tickets for Roskilde are on sale now.

For the full line-up and more information go to the Roskilde festival website.

To check the availability of Roskilde tickets and get all the latest listings, go to NME.COM/GIGS now, or call 0871 230 1094.