Summer Festivals go 3D: a World First on Sky TV

NEWBURY, England, April 28, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Isle of Wight Festival and Bestival will become the first festivals in the world to be broadcast live in 3D this summer, as Sky reveals its plans to become the single biggest broadcast partner of music festivals.

In addition to Isle of Wight and Bestival, Sky Arts will also broadcast exclusive coverage of 10 more of the UK's most popular and diverse music festivals on Sky's TV channel Sky Arts.

In becoming the leading broadcast partners to the UK's music festivals, this summer Sky Arts is partnering with the following Isle of Wight Festival, Download, Hard Rock Calling, Latitude, Lovebox, High Voltage, Cambridge Folk Festival, Camp Bestival, Sonisphere, Cropredy, Rewind and Bestival.

Today's announcement marks the channel's biggest commitment yet to live music and music festivals.

John Cassy, Channel Director of Sky Arts and Sky 3D commented: 'The festivals we have chosen to partner attract some of the biggest and most exciting acts.  We are particularly excited about Bestival and the Isle of Wight festivals, where we'll break new ground by bringing them to the life through 3D.  Broadcasting live in 3D is an amazing opportunity to bring viewers closer than ever to the real festival experience."

Isle of Wight Festival begins the coverage on 10 June. Sky 3D will take 2 hours of live 3D coverage each day from the biggest acts of the festival, which include Kings of Leon, Kasabian, Foo Fighters, Plan B and Pulp. Sky Arts 1 will broadcast 2 hours of highlights from across the festival.

Bestival which runs from the 8-11 September will also be covered live and in 3D and will round off the channel's summer of music. The festival's headline acts include The Cure, Pendulum, Brian Wilson, Primal Scream and Robyn.

The other ten festivals will be broadcast throughout the summer on Sky Arts 1 HD.  

In recent years, Sky Arts has cemented its reputation for coverage of contemporary music. Last year it dramatically increased its coverage of live music and commissioned a fourth series of its flagship music programme Songbook. This season features interviews and performance from songwriting legends including Don McLean, Diane Warren and Dave Stewart.

Find out about 3D TV by visiting http://www.sky.com/shop/

SOURCE Sky