TWO BRIT Award-winning bands and a rising indie quartet from New York have been announced as the headline acts for this summer's Latitude Festival.Florence and the Machine, Belle and Sebastian and Vampire Weekend were named as this year's star acts for the fifth instalment of the festival at Henham Estate, from July 15-18.

TWO BRIT Award-winning bands and a rising indie quartet from New York have been announced as the headline acts for this summer's Latitude Festival.

Florence and the Machine, Belle and Sebastian and Vampire Weekend were named as this year's star acts for the fifth instalment of the festival at Henham Estate, from July 15-18.

Last month Florence and the Machine won the Mastercard British Album BRIT Award and the band, who are led by Florence Welch, have received much critical acclaim. This summer the band will play at the T in the Park, V and Isle of Wight festivals, and now they will headline Friday night at Latitude.

Saturday night will be headlined by Scottish indie pop band Belle and Sebastian. The band have built up a committed following ever since they won the best newcomer BRIT Award in 1999.

Concluding the festival on Sunday night will be indie rockers Vampire Weekend, whose second album Contra reached number three in the UK album chart earlier this year.

Other music acts announced for the Obelisk arena are Australian electric music duo Empire of the Sun, Brighton indie-rock band The Maccabees and Mexican accoustic duo Rodrigo y Gabriela.

Leading the Word Arena will be The National, The xx and Grizzly Bear.

Latitude Festival has always prided itself on being more than just a music festival, and there have again been some top names announced from the worlds of poetry, theatre, comedy and literature.

Leading the comedy tent will be Emo Philips, Tommy Tiernan, Rich Hall and Ardal O'Hanlon, with Marcus Brigstocke, Richard Herring and Russell Kane among the other performers announced.

In the theatre arena there will be the Royal Opera House and Royal Shakespeare Company, the literary arena welcomes Robin Ince and American novelist Bret Easton Ellis, and poetry will be headed by Blake Morrison and Jacob Polley.

Comedian Rich Fulcher will be performing in the cabaret arena and will be joined by Perrier Comedy Award winner Laura Solon and Idiots of Ants, who will be bringing their fast-paced sketch comedy to the festival. Radio DJ and presenter Mark Lamarr will be presenting his BBC Radio 2 show, God's Jukebox, in the music and film arena.

Organisers say that more than 700 performers will be announced over the coming months.

Melvin Benn, managing director of Latitude Festival organiser Festival Republic, said: 'Five glorious years on and Latitude Festival continues to be everything I wanted it to be.

'The breadth and calibre of programming across the arts and music consistently astounds me, and I am delighted that Latitude has earned its place as a festival of choice for many.'

Tickets for Latitude are now on sale. Weekend tickets cost �155, subject to booking fee. Day tickets for Friday, Saturday and Sunday cost �65, subject to booking fee. Weekend ticket prices include car parking and camping. Day tickets include car parking, and this year there will be some camping available to day visitors.

To book, call the credit card line 0871 2310846 or visit www.festivalrepublic.com, www.seetickets.com or www.latitudefestival.co.uk