Headliner Announcement for Vale Earth Fair 50th Anniversary!
This year is a huge year for the Vale Earth Fair. We are very excited to be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the festival on 30th August 2026. We have some old favourites that we are very excited to see return as well as some new faces to our stages. Expect to hear a huge variety of music, spoken word and entertainment throughout the castle which will be filled with local and visiting talent across our 6 stages.
The Vale Earth Fair is the Channel Islands’ longest running music and arts festival and has established itself as a regular fixture on the UK festival circuit, attracting some big-name festival acts such as Bob Vylan, Skindred, Roots Manuva, Buzzcocks, Alabama 3, Asian Dub Foundation, The Jungle Brothers, and Neville Staple in previous years.
We would like to thank the Tourism Management Board this year for providing us with a grant which will help to make our 50th anniversary event even bigger than ever!
We are thrilled to announce that electronic legends The Orb will be this year’s headliner for Vale Earth Fair 50.
Nearly 4 decades since Alex Paterson lit the multi-coloured touchpaper on The Orb’s interstellar space odyssey, he continues to swerve, becoming his own tribute act whilst never standing still and delivering a cluster of fresh new projects.
2023 saw the release of Prism, the eighteenth Orb studio album and being hailed as their most towering set for years, followed by extensive tours of the UK, Europe and the USA. In 2010 Alex Paterson joined forces with Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour and Youth to produce Metallic Spheres (engineered by local legend Tim Bran), and late in 2023 The Orb reunited with Gilmour with Metallic Spheres In Colour (again featuring Tim Bran). 2025 saw further productivity with the release of Buddhist Hipsters following in a similar vein to Prism, and a double headline UK tour with previous Vale Earth Fair headliners Dreadzone.
With Alex Paterson always setting the controls for the perfect ambient flight, dance groove or exploring previously unknown vistas, The Orb initially manifested as visionary mischief-makers in 1988’s acid house revolution, taking “ambient house” to number one in the album charts accompanied by his parallel devotion to the art of DJing and very British sense of humour. Always working with telepathic sonic lieutenants, Alex’s latest forays have been achieved with the brilliant Michael Rendall.
After starting the WAU! Label with Youth (who featured on the 2024 Vale Earth Fair line-up), Alex launched The Orb with Jimmy Cauty, releasing 1988’s The Kiss EP in tribute to New York’s ground-breaking eighties radio stations that still influence his musical attitude today. He then hijacked Minnie Riperton's 'Loving You' for '89's epic breakthrough ‘A Huge Pulsating Brain That Rules From The Centre Of The Ultraworld’.
After Cauty left to concentrate on KLF, Alex and Youth collaborated on the Rickie Lee Jones-heisting ‘Little Fluffy Clouds’. It was followed by 1990’s landmark debut album The Orb's Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld, guests including German electronic luminary Thomas Fehlmann, guitarist Steve Hillage, bassist Guy Pratt and Youth, promoted by Alex turning The Orb into a mind-blowing live experience at the same time as working on U.F. Orb. The Orb had also become in-demand remixers, including booting Primal Scream’s ‘Higher Than The Sun’ into the cosmos for 1991’s Screamadelica.
After the epic single 'The Blue Room' disturbed the charts and Top Of The Pops with the infamous chess-playing appearance, the second album U.F. Orb was launched at the Planetarium and entered the UK album charts at number one in July 1992.
With Thomas Fehlmann and engineer Andy Hughes on board, 1995’s Orbus Terrarum traversed further orbits and modern classical realms. 1997’s stunning Orblivion was followed by Jarre-fondling ‘Toxygene’ hitting number four in the charts. Jumping forward a few years and several further album releases, in 2012, Alex was then joined by reggae legend Lee 'Scratch' Perry for The Observer in The Star House, then More Tales From The Observatory.
2018 saw the release of their sixteenth studio album, No Sounds Are Out of Bounds and 2019 saw the Orb touring for their 30th anniversary. The Orb released their seventeenth studio album, Abolition of the Royal Familia in 2020 featuring contributions from Youth, Roger Eno, Gaudi, David Harrow and Steve Hillage & Miquette Giraudy (System 7). with Prism was released in 2023 and their most recent album Buddhist Hipster last year we make that 19 albums – so it’s safe to say they’re legends of the scene!
Throughout everything, Alex has continued wooing his first love of DJing, both on WNBC, London from the West Norwood Book and Record Bar and in discos around the globe. One of music’s true originals, not averse to celebrating past triumphs but still always watching the skies and looking to the future.
The Orb are joined by The Dynamics from Lyon in France. Blending soul, reggae, funk, and dub, The Dynamics have captivated global audiences since 2006 with their electrifying live performances and genre-defying covers. Their debut Version Excursions became a DJ favourite worldwide, and they’ve toured extensively across Europe, Japan, and the Middle East. Now backed by members of the Red Rockers Sound System, they return with their latest album Drag’n’Fly—a fresh chapter in their ongoing musical journey.
The Dynamics emerged in 2006 from the vibrant nightlife of Lyon’s Croix-Rousse hill, where DJs, producers, singers, and musicians bonded over a shared love for soul, funk, reggae, and all music that moves the heart, soul, and feet. Starting as a vocal trio with a lo-fi sound system, they quickly gained traction with DJ-friendly 45s, including reggae-infused covers of Curtis Mayfield’s Move On Up and The White Stripes’ Seven Nation Army. Their debut album, Version Excursions featured imaginative, genre-blending covers, selling over 40,000 copies worldwide. Its wide appeal earned the group airplay on major radio stations and playlists, including support from Don Letts.
The Dynamics have spent many years touring West and East Europe, the Middle East, as well as Japan firing up stages including famous international festivals such as Glastonbury & Lovebox (UK), Reggae Sun Ska & Garorock (FR), Fringe Festival, Spraio (IRE), Debaser (SE), Sudwest (PT), Popkomm (DE), Path of Peath (IT) and many more. From small clubs to festival main stages, they have supported artists as diverse as Toots and the Maytals, Lee Perry, Snowboy, The Chemical Brothers and Lady Gaga! We can’t wait to see them on the Castle Stage again having joined us previously to celebrate our 40th anniversary and in 2007.
We are also delighted to share that there is a huge lineup of local, Jersey and other UK acts at our celebration this year including The Recks, Tantale, Honest Crooks, Edith’s Head, Benny the Moth (Jersey), To The Woods, SkySkrapers, Perchard’s Wall (Jersey), Le Beaubo, Hieron (Jersey), The Cor Damme Lars, Sacred Hearts, and Paul Loraine. This is just a selection of what you can expect from this bigger-than-ever celebration with many many more to be announced over the coming weeks.
Our tickets are available right now at https://valeearthfair.org/tickets so get them soon! You really won’t want to miss this…
Fancy helping us to put together the party of the year? This event, as well as everything else we do, is put on by a team of hard-working and seemingly tireless volunteers. We’re looking for people to help on the day as well as in the weeks before and after for set-up and the pack-down. If you would like to get involved in some moving, lifting, painting, building, driving, litter picking, bar work, merch or ticket sales and many other things, please get in touch with us on our social media channels or by contacting holly@valeearthfair.org. There will be a free ticket, food/drink tokens and our very grateful smiling faces as a thank you!
