Familiar faces return for annual celebration of all things retro

ELECTRONIC pop duo Soft Cell and singer Holly Johnson will headline this year’s Rewind festival.

Rewind South is set to take place in Temple Island Meadows in Remenham from Friday, August 15 to Sunday, August 17.

It is the 17th year the retro-themed festival has been held in Henley and its line-up was announced on Wednesday.

Soft Cell, comprising vocalist Marc Almond and instrumentalist David Ball, are best known for their 1981 synth-pop hit Tainted Love and will headline the festival on Saturday night.

Almond has previously performed at the festival in Henley five times, including most recently in 2023 but it is the first time the duo will perform together.

Sunday night’s show will be headlined by Johnson, the lead singer of Frankie Goes to Hollywood, which will be celebrating the 40th anniversary of the band’s debut studio album Welcome to the Pleasuredome. Johnson is also a familiar face at the festival and has performed in Henley in 2011 and 2014 and headlined the festival in 2022.

On Saturday, other acts performing will include supergroup Boyzlife comprising Boyzone’s Keith Duffy and Westlife’s Brian McFadden and Tom Bailey from the Thompson Twins.

Also taking to the stage will be the pop band ABC, best known for their 1982 debut album The Lexicon of Love, and American musical group Kid Creole & the Coconuts.

On Sunday, crowds will be treated to a performance from singer-songwriter Midge Ure, who co-wrote and produced the Band Aid charity single Do They Know It’s Christmas? and has performed with bands including Slik, Thin Lizzy, Rich Kids and Visage.

Other performers will include Matt Goss, the lead singer of pop group Bros, known for hits such as When Will I Be Famous? and I Owe You Nothing, and synth-pop band Heaven 17. Also performing will be Haircut 100, whose members include Nick Heyward, Les Nemes, Graham Jones and Blair Cunningham and boy band Blue.

The main stage show will be compèred by Jenny Powell, of Greatest Hits Radio, on Saturday and Clive Jackson, also known as The Doctor from Doctor and the Medics on Sunday.

Other acts performing across the weekend will include Sugarhill Gang X The Furious Five, T’Pau, Chesney Hawkes, The Selecter, Cutting Crew, Wang Chung, Go West, The South, Junior, Roachford and Ten Pole Tudor.

As well as the main stage the festival will host performances on its Pink Flamingo and River Stage and will host a silent disco.

Other attractions will include an inflatable church in which festival-goers can hold a “Rewind Wedding”, funfair rides, fireworks, stalls selling jewellery, T-shirts, food and drink and a kids’ zone.

Steve Porter, the festival’s producer, said: “We are thrilled to release the 2025 line-up for Rewind South. The 17th year of this fabulous festival promises to be a good one.

“We really feel this line-up has something for everyone with the exclusive UK show this year from Soft Cell and Holly Johnson celebrating 40 years of the release of Welcome to the Pleasuredome — there is much to celebrate.

“Rewind, however, is all about strength in depth and with this line-up we feel we have that in spades with the traditional nod to the Eighties, the foundation stone of Rewind, but also a wink to the Nineties with some youngsters joining this year’s line-up.

“Couple that with great friends getting together, great food and shopping, all the fun of the fair, silent discos and full line-ups on the river stage and Pink Flamingo club and it all makes for the best weekend of the summer.”

He added: “We look forward to welcoming everyone back to Rewind this year.”