The family-friendly boutique festival eschews international acts this year with the budget going on the biggest and best live acts in the country. The Riptide Movement will headline The Volkswagen Main Stage on Saturday 3rd June.  Having blown the Irish music scene wide open in 2014 with their number one, gold-selling album Getting Through, a string of Top 10 singles and various sold-out headline tours, the four-piece's new single ‘Changeling’ from their Top 5 charting album Ghosts, is out now.

Following on from last year's scorcher of a weekend, the line-up also includes Choice Music Prize nominees Overhead, The Albatross, the exceptional Dublin folk four-piece Lankum (formerly Lynched), and the inimitable Kíla – due to release a new live album on St. Patrick’s Day.

The quality of the line-up doesn't end there though, with alternative legends The Pale joining the fray. Heavy rock fans will have planty to sate their appetites with New Secret Weapon , Vulpynes, and Mindriot on the card, while Musos’ Guide favourites Hvmmingbyrd and Mongrel State show the diversity of the bill.

Vantastival 2017 will take place on Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th June at Beaulieu House & Gardens, Drogheda.  Other attractions will include The Volkswagen Campervan Cook-off, open mic sessions, art installations, storytelling, festival traders, a host of children’s activities and much more.  Vantastival has something for everyone, with or without a campervan! Weekend tickets are on sale now at €85 + booking fee for two nights camping. Day Tickets Cost €40.

Full first wave announcement:

The Riptide Movement, Kíla Overhead, The Albatross, Lankum (Lynched), The Pale, Corner Boy, New Secret Weapon, Cat Dowling, Orchid Collective,  Mindriot, Heroes In Hiding, Wob!, Wolff, Hvmmingbyrd, Mongrel State, Mark Geary, Vulpynes, Navá, 5th Element & Doublescreen, Elmore, Blaming Hannah, Dioscó Na Mbó, More Than Machines, Dahlia   Lōwli, Sub Motion, Vinci, Frankenstein Bolts, Graham Sweeney, Emma Lou & The Agenda, The Pox Men, Cranky Face, Sonnets & Sisters, Amoon, The Lost Gecko & Suso Youth Choir.

The 6th annual Scottish Album of the Year (SAY) Award has launched for 2017, encouraging artists, labels and the general public to nominate eligible albums released between 1 April 2016 and 31 March 2017 on The SAY Award website.

The SAY Award is a prestigious and exciting arts prize produced by the Scottish Music Industry Association (SMIA), with confirmed partners for 2017 including Paisley for UK City of Culture 2021, Creative Scotland, TicketWeb and PPL. The award celebrates, promotes and rewards the most outstanding Scottish albums released each year. Respected by artists and valued by the industry, The SAY Award is responsible for a surge in musical discovery and an explosion of impassioned debate on social media.

Once all eligible albums have been collated, 100 impartial ‘Nominators’, chosen from press, radio, music venues, jazz, classical, traditional folk, retail and elsewhere in the arts, will consider titles from The SAY Award’s Eligible Album List, nominating their five favourite albums and ranking them in order of preference. The 20 highest scoring albums will make up The SAY Award Longlist for 2017, announced on May 24th.

The Longlist will be further whittled down to a shortlist of 10 albums, one of which will be chosen by the public during a 72-hour public vote (12-14 June) and the others decided by a panel of prestigious judges. The SAY Award 2017 Shortlist will be announced on June 15th as part of a BBC Quay Sessions show, with the award ceremony then taking place on June 28th in the surroundings of Paisley's elegant Town Hall, in support of Paisley’s bid for Paisley to become UK City of Culture 2021. The winning artist will pick up a £20,000 cash prize, provided by long term Award partner Creative Scotland. The 9 runners up will each be awarded a £1,000 prize, as well as an exclusively designed piece of artwork from the SAY Award Design Commission.

For the second year running, The SAY Award ceremony will be taking place in the historic town of Paisley, a place with a deep cultural heritage, not only in music but across the arts. The town has a thriving music scene and is fast establishing itself as a key destination on Scotland's major events map. To be able to attract and host an event of the importance of the SAY Award is a big boost for Paisley ahead of the town's bid to be UK City of Culture 2021 being lodged."

Previous winners of the Award include Bill Wells and Aiden Moffat (2012), RM Hubbert (2013), Young Fathers (2014), Kathryn Joseph (2015) and last years winner Anna Meredith, who won with her critically acclaimed full length debut album Varmints.

To nominate an album, please visit The SAY Award website for guidelines and more information.