Ticket sales for Latitude Festival are selling faster than in the previous year, with organisers forecasting an early sellout.The news comes as more big names have been added to the line-up for this year's Latitude where tickets are already said to be selling "phenomenally well".

Ticket sales for Latitude Festival are selling faster than in the previous year, with organisers forecasting an early sellout.

The news comes as more big names have been added to the line-up for this year's Latitude where tickets are already said to be selling "phenomenally well".

Rock band The Horrors, former Pulp member Richard Hawley, and Icelandic star J�nsi Birgisson from Sigur R�s, are the latest names to be confirmed for this summer's festival on the Henham estate between Beccles and Southwold.

They join a line-up that includes Brit Award winners Florence and the Machine, indie pop band Belle and Sebastian, New York indie rock quartet Vampire Weekend and Australian electric music duo Empire of the Sun.

The event is one of the region's most popular music and arts festivals and is back this summer for a fifth year running from July 15-18.

Melvin Benn, managing director of Latitude Festival organiser Festival Republic, said the key to the event's success was that it had set itself apart from other festivals.

“We set out to create an event that was different to all the others,” he said. “We have developed a style of what Latitude is and I think that style works fantastically well.

“The festival has also set itself very comfortably within the Suffolk area. It has a phenomenal literary, poetry and theatre ethos that no other festival has to that level. It is one of the things that sets it apart and has endeared it to local people.

“The public feedback from the area has just been tremendous. It is to the point where I could not imagine Latitude taking place anywhere other than Suffolk. It sort of fits.”

He added: “Tickets are selling phenomenally well. They are selling much faster than last year, which is very good news.

“Last year they were on sale pretty much right until the end of the festival. I do not think they will be this year.”

Other artists set to appear at the festival are The Maccabees, an indie rock five-piece from Brighton, and Mexican musical duo Rodrigo y Gabriela.

Also on the line-up are Grizzly Bear, a Brooklyn-based folk rock band, French actress and singer-songwriter Charlotte Gainsbourg, The National, a Brooklyn-based indie rock band and The xx, a three-piece band from Wandsworth in London.

Comedians include award-winning Irish comic Tommy Tiernan and festival favourite Marcus Brigstocke.

Festival-goers will also be able to enjoy performances from the Royal Opera House, Royal Shakespeare Company, The Opera Group and London Sinfonietta plus the English Touring Theatre Company.

Radio DJ and presenter Mark Lamarr will be presenting his BBC Radio 2 show God's Jukebox in the music and film arena.

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 only.

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