With the lighter evenings and recent sunny spells, summer seems to be creeping ever closer, and with this week's initial announcement of confirmed acts for the Leeds Festival at Bramham Park over the August Bank Holiday weekend, it seems closer still.

This year, the festival is celebrating its tenth anniversary and has lined up some top headline acts, two of which have recently graced the Main Stage. The other is a recently-reformed rock band who headlined at the festival's twin site in Reading 12 years ago.

Rock megaliths Metallica return to the Friday night headline slot on August 22 after playing the Main Stage four years ago, and will be previewing material from their forthcoming new album as well as many tracks from their huge back catalogue with their only UK festival performance this year.

Las Vegas indie-rockers The Killers bring the festival to a close on Sunday, August 24, and sandwiched between the two is the undoubted highlight of the musical weekend - Rage Against The Machine, who headline the Main Stage on the Saturday.

The band, who reformed last year at the Coachella Festival in America, have an arsenal of fiercely powerful political songs and are guaranteed to put on a performance that will become the stuff of legend - much like their incendiary festival appearance more than a decade ago.

Other acts announced this week include Wakefield's band of brothers, The Cribs, who will be heading back to Yorkshire to headline the NME/Radio 1 Stage with a riotous homecoming set on the Friday night; Babyshambles and The Wombats, who will be co-headlining the stage on Saturday, and NME's God-like Geniuses, Manic Street Preachers.

Acts on the Friday include Queens Of The Stone Age, The Fratellis, The Enemy, Biffy Clyro, Serj Tankian, Dizzee Rascal, Taking Back Sunday, Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly, Anti-Flag, Vampire Weekend and MGMT.

On Saturday, Bloc Party, Jack White's The Raconteurs, Editors, We Are Scientists, Dirty Pretty Things and The Subways, Bullet For My Valentine, Justice and Foals make up a great day of live music.

And on Sunday, Tenacious D, Slipknot, Feeder, Avenged Sevenfold, Dropkick Murphys, Conor Oberst and Pendulum play on the final festival day.

There will be many, many more acts announced over the coming weeks.

  • Leeds Festival takes place at Bramham Park from Friday, August 22 to Sunday, August 24. Weekend tickets, costing £155 for camping and parking, are selling quickly, so if you can still pick some up, you're very lucky. Day tickets, costing £65 (no camping) are still available. Visit leedsfestival.com, seetickets.com and festivalrepublic.com, or call 0871 2310821.