Hailing from Salisbury, the self-proclaimed kings of 'mongrel rock' and new saviours of rock 'n' roll' performing songs about all things Salisbury; its people, places and events. Songs of love, songs of hope, songs of anguish and one about a couple of dodgy Russian ‘tourists’.

Subtle as a flying mallet, a bit unpredictable but always fun!!

Their new CD, ‘A Quintessential English Scandal’ will be available at the festival

Department S are best known for two top 40 hits “Is Vic There?” and “Going Left Right”. The band reformed in 2006 and have since then become a live must see live band playing numerous dates including Glastonbury, W Fest, Benicassim, Rewind, Green Man festivals and over 300 gigs in 9 countries playing along side Mott the Hoople, The Mission, The Godfathers, UK Subs, The Skids to name but a few

Current line up features the legendary Eddie Roxy and Pete Jones (Public Image Limited) on bass along with guitarist Phil Thompson (The Rezillos) and new drummer Simon Bowley joining from Eddie and the Hot Rods

2016 saw Department S release the 3 rd Department S album “When all is said and all is done” along with a single of the same name to rave reviews. October 2017 saw the release of another long player “45 Revolutions” (Singles 1980-2017). Work is currently underway for the next album due for release in 2020.

A British new wave/sophisti-pop band that formed in 1981 who epitomised the glamour of mid-80s pop at its most graceful and sophisticated.

Argonaut are purveyors of fiery female fronted alternative punk rock. The band released their self-titled debut in 2012, and unleashed their second album 'Try' in 2015. Their latest album 'Forever' was released last November, and they are highly influenced by The Velvet Underground, Sonic Youth, Nirvana, Blondie, Pixies, Le Tigre and The Slits.

Awarding Bad Press from the last year, with John Mitchinson, Hardeep Singh Kohi, Salena Godden and guests

Chair: Gavin Elser

Tara Grace

Jason Arthur

Doire Finn

Simranjeet Riyat

For more than twenty-five years, David Nott has taken unpaid leave from his job as a general and vascular surgeon with the NHS to volunteer in some of the world’s most dangerous war zones. From Sarajevo under siege in 1993, to clandestine hospitals in rebel-held eastern Aleppo, he has carried out life-saving operations and field surgery in the most challenging conditions, and with none of the resources of a major London teaching hospital.

The conflicts he has worked in form a chronology of twenty-first-century combat: Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Darfur, Congo, Iraq, Yemen, Libya, Gaza and Syria. But he has also volunteered in areas blighted by natural disasters, such as the earthquakes in Haiti and Nepal.

Driven both by compassion and passion, the desire to help others and the thrill of extreme personal danger, he is now widely acknowledged to be the most experienced trauma surgeon in the world. But as time went on, David Nott began to realize that flying into a catastrophe – whether war or natural disaster – was not enough. Doctors on the ground needed to learn how to treat the appalling injuries that war inflicts upon its victims. Since 2015, the foundation he set up with his wife, Elly, has disseminated the knowledge he has gained, training other doctors in the art of saving lives threatened by bombs and bullets.

War Doctor is his extraordinary story.

In association with MEND

Chair: Shazad Amin

Naz Shah
Caroline Orr

Richard McNeill- Wilson, European University Institute, Florence

Gina Miller

CHAIR: Hardeep Matharu

Naz Shah

Bonnie Greer

Dr Maya Goodfellow

Gina Miller is a businesswoman and transparency activist. She is the founder of Lead Not Leave and End the Chaos. She was the lead claimant in the successful legal fight to allow parliament to vote on whether the UK could start the process of leaving the EU.

CHAIR: Malini Mehra

Damian Tambini

Andrew Ramsay

Ian Lucas has been Labour MP for Wrexham since 2001 and is currently a member of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee.

The Committee’s reports on ‘Fake News and Disinformation’ have been at the heart of uncovering the Cambridge Analytica Scandal and Ian has questioned Alexander Nix, Brittany Kaiser, Christopher Wylie, Arron Banks and a number of senior Facebook executives as part of the Inquiry.

Following Boris Johnson’s appointment as Prime Minister, Ian wrote to Johnson asking him to direct Dominic Cummings, now adviser to the Prime Minister, to give evidence to the Select Committee, which he has, so far, refused to do.

Ian was Business and Regulatory Reform Minister in Gordon Brown’s Government and was a Shadow Foreign Office and Defence Minister under Ed Miliband. He has served on the Select Committee since 2015.

A lawyer by background, Ian represented Trevor Rees-Jones, the sole survivor of the car crash that killed the Princess of Wales in 1997, and has taken a close interest in press, media intrusion and the law ever since. 

A review of the papers hosted by the Curious Arts Festival