The Darkness confirmed as Ramblin’ Man Fair 2019 headliner

(Image credit: Simon Emmett)

The Darkness have been confirmed as one of next year’s Ramblin’ Man Fair headliners.

The UK festival will take place at Mote Park in Maidstone, Kent, between July 19-21, 2019, with The Darkness closing out the Friday night’s entertainment on the main stage.

Vocalist and guitarist Justin Hawkins says: “I do love to ramble. Years ago, my grandfather bought me a set of hiking boots for Christmas, in a direct refusal to spend money on the plastic Evel Knievel toy I had begged him for in the weeks leading up to it. 

“Grandad was quite progressive in that respect, very much a recycler. It must run in the family, my Uncle Len gave me the same three-pack of sports socks that I had given him the previous year. 

“So off I went, box-fresh hikers and re-gifted sports socks up the nearest hill. It took a long time to get there on account of my having grown up in the flat lands of East Anglia. 

“Two of my other great uncles, Fred and Cyril, lived in Maidstone so I walked there. That makes Ramblin’ Man somewhat of a homecoming, and we, The Darkness, cannot wait to headline this magnificent festival.”

It’s also been announced today that the Chris Robinson Brotherhood will also play on the main stage at the UK’s festival of rock, prog, country and blues.

It was previously announced that Foreigner would headline the main stage on the Saturday, Anathema would top the Prog In The Park stage, and that Beth Hart would headline the blues stage at the festival.

Other artists also previously confirmed were Pain Of Salvation and Riverside.

For more on Ramblin' Man Fair 2019, visit the official website.

Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent more than 30 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving to the e-commerce team in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, scouts out the best deals for music fans and reviews headphones, speakers, books and more. He's written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog and has previous written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.