Set in stunning stately grounds, Port Eliot is a festival unlike any other you're likely to experience. An annual celebration of words, music, comedy, film, visual arts, imagination, exploration and - above all - fun in one of the most magical settings you could imagine, we heartily recommend you try something a bit different and venture there yourself.

Prepare to relax inside Walled Gardens, eat homemade cake in a beautiful Orangery, be wowed by wordsmiths' wizardry, sucked into spontaneous performances, dance into the wee small hours, laugh until it hurts, or explore the estate in the moonlight with a moonwatching guide! The Port Eliot Festival, now in its sixth year, returns with a giddy concoction of performers in the pipeline!

Launched in 2003 by Peregrine St Germans and his wife Catherine, the Port Eliot Festival paved the way for a new kind of literature festival and it's back again this summer for more enchanting antics! Forget the stiffness and pretentious air you might associate with traditional lit events - this wild bohemian celebration boasts "the brains of a literary festival and all the soul of a music festival". (The Times) Stranger Collective are proud and excited to join the Port Eliot team this year, as we're editing the festival website and programme.

Once you've ventured onto the estate there is an array of exciting showcases to look forward to. Caught By The River (brought to you by Jeff Barrett and Robin Turner from Heavenly Recordings) will be hosting the Boathouse area on the estuary banks to present an array of riverside musings and music with some big names in the pipeline (the full line-up will be announced on 20 March). And if the magic of the riverside isn't enough, there'll be one minute of crazy dancing every hour from One Minute Disco and a Saturday Night Fish Fry.

If art and exploration is your thing, artist Gavin Turk's legendary House of Fairytales makes its third annual return to the festival offering up a dreamlike selection of imaginative venues set deep within the Rhododendron gardens. From the Enchanted Forest to the House of Mirrors, parades and tea parties to pyschedelic midnight picnics, these surreal spaces will set spinning the imaginations of grown-ups and kids alike.

Port Eliot Festival 2009 will also feature a fantastic line-up of performers such as Found in Translation, a unique poetic piece that challenges its performers (writers Joe Dunthorne, Ross Sutherland and Tim Clare) to use only one vowel, and the influences of a bizarre writing movement. British fashion icon and interior designer Barbara Hulanicki will be making an appearance to bring back your vintage, and who better to assign to the task? Other headliners include renowned music and culture journalist, Mick Brown; founder of the Cloud Appreciation Society and co-founder of legendary Idler magazine, Gavin Pretor-Pinney, who'll be telling us about waves; whilst British comedy writer and funny man Simon Munnery will be taking to the stage for some stomach-clutching crack-ups.

With music from rock n' roll and ska afficionado Gaz Mayall (who has hosted the cult weekly 'Gaz's Rockin' Blues' night in Soho for the past 28 years), prepare to hit the Cabaret tent for some butt-twisting and hip-swinging tunes late into the night, before hailing to the Glastonbury God Michael Eavis, who'll be making an appearance with Arthur Smith and Peregrine St Germans in their own unique production 'Groovy Old Men'.

Sarah Waters, Rebecca Lenkiewickz, Henry Hemming, Louis de Bernières, Moshin Hammid, Kate Summerscale, Patrick McCabe, Justine Picardie, Hardeep Singh Kohli, Hadley Freeman, Alexander Waugh, Alain de Botton, Kamila Shamsie, Hanif Kureishi, William Dalrymple, and Arthur Smith will also be joining the party - keep an eye peeled as the line-up is set to double after the 20 March announcement.

To find out more and browse galleries from previous festivals, go to www.porteliotfestival.com