IT’S a Colchester musical invasion at this year’s Latitude Festival.

Organisers of the Suffolk music festival have announced two Essex acts who will be appearing as part of the BBC Introducing slot on the Lake Stage.

Manningtree’s Dingus Khan and former Colchester Institute music tutor Benjamin Bloom will be performing over the weekend of July 12 to 15, thanks to BBC Introducing in Suffolk.

Radio 1 DJ Huw Stephens, who curates the Lake Stage every year, explains: “It’s great to have BBC Introducing in Suffolk helping to curate the Lake Stage again this year.

“The artists they support and help nurture will get to play to a large audience at one of the finest festivals I’ve ever been to, so it’s a great chance for local artists to get their music heard.”

Saturday sees nine-piece indie act Dingus Khan take to the stage.

The band released their debut single, Knifey Spoony, on Club Fandango earlier this year and recently performed a BBC Radio 6 Music session for Steve Lamacq.

With three drummers, three bassists and an electric ukulele thrown in for good measure, you’ve never seen rock and roll played this way before.

Singer and guitarist Ben Brown has always said the first festival he wanted to go to was the one he was playing at.

He says: “I’ve never been to a festival in my life so it’s going to be an eye-opener. I haven’t even got a tent.

“We might have a ridiculous stage show – maybe dancers, the Supremes on backing vocals and a giant maypole in the centre of the stage.”

Benjamin Bloom rounds off the weekend on Sunday.

The Ipswich-based singer-songwriter will be playing epic tunes from his recent Weird and Wonderful EP.

He says: “I’m delighted – overwhelmed. It’s a struggle for us unsigned guys to get out of the toilets, up a level and get into good venues.

“You trawl around and wait for somebody to give you an opportunity and, now we have, they’re going to get a stupid, ridiculous, over-the-top show with anthemic songs.”

For more information on this year’s Latitude go to www.latitudefestival. co.uk