Latitude revellers hope for surprise thom yorke gig

The rumours began after he tweeted a picture of his latest album with a logo for the Latitude festival across it, along with the caption: “What’s happening? who’s in the photo?”.

Music fans at Latitude are hoping for the unexpected after Ed Sheeran wowed the crowd with a surprise gig on the festival’s 10th birthday.

Among the scheduled musical highlights today are trip hop pioneers Portishead, headlining the Obelisk arena.

The festival, which attracts around 30,000 people, has a history of surprising its fans, with Lily Allen and Rudimental dropping in over recent years.

The “Thinking Out Loud” hitmaker performed on the Brit festival’s woodland iArena stage after Alt-J had finished their set, NME.com reports.

Earlier, Malian rockers Songhoy Blues had a late afternoon crowd dancing in unison to African rhythms and heavy blues riffs.

Speculation was rife that Sheeran was set to make an appearance at the festival after he was spotted having a drink at nearby pub, The Station Hotel, with former X-Factor judge Nicole Scherzinger during the day.

The delighted fan said after the show: “it was an awesome show, really intimate”. That’s the best time I’ve ever seen him, just because it was so small.

The festival has now become known nearly as much for its arts programming as its music.

“Sometimes there have been some quite snobby or prejudiced views, on bringing those genres and art forms into a field”.

He also paid tribute to Nick Cave, whose 15-year-old son Arthur died after falling off a cliff near the family home in Sussex this week, saying: “I’d just like to send thoughts and love to Nick Cave”.