Florence + The Machine, Belle and Sebastian, and Vampire Weekend Announced As Latitude Fest Headliners

NME has broken the headlining lineup for Suffolk, England’s five-year-old Latitude Festival today, which seems lightly subpar when compared to the fest’s previous heavies (such as Arcade Fire, Nick Cave, Thom Yorke, Wilco and more).  Florence + The Machine, Belle and Sebastian and Vampire Weekend will be the tent-pole acts for this year’s Latitude, with backing by Empire of the Sun, The Maccabees and Rodrigo y Gabriela.  Keep in mind that this is simply an initial announcement, meaning that there will be more to come.  That said, as far as initial announcements go… well, Belle and Sebastian are pretty good, right?

Also announced were a slew of secondary-stage performers, including the National, the XX, the Horrors, Grizzly Bear, and Charlotte Gainsbourg, nearly all of whom I’d take over Florence + The Machine or Vampire Weekend.  But, one can’t complain too much – it’s a far, far better lineup, even with substandard headliners, than the rumored Soundgarden/ Green Day/ Lady Gaga axis of evil that may or may not assist Lollapalooza 2010 in jumping a very large and very ridiculous shark, so there’s that.

The fifth Latitude Festival will run from July 16th, 17th and 18th in Henham Park in Southwold, Suffolk, England, with more lineup announcements expected soon.

What do you think of Latitude Festival’s initial lineup?