Acts announced for Creamfields

ABU DHABI // Two of the world's most popular dance acts are to perform in the capital at the Creamfields Abu Dhabi festival next month. Underworld, the British DJ collaboration who have been making music for the past 17 years, will top the bill with a set including visuals, synchronised lighting and live vocals. And the electronic musician Calvin Harris, who has produced records for Kylie Minogue and last year had a number one hit in the UK, Dance Wiv Me, with the rapper Dizzee Rascal, will also be performing live at the one-day festival.

They will be joined by six other acts including Erick Morillo, Sasha, Deadmau5 and Sebastian Leger. John Lickrish, the managing director of the event's host, Flash Entertainment, said the line-up for December 11 was "phenomenal" and he was "very excited" about bringing such talent to the capital. "Creamfields Abu Dhabi is going to be the first outdoor electronic music festival the country, indeed the region, has ever seen," he said.

"The lawns of Emirates Palace promise to provide the perfect backdrop for an outdoor music festival of this scale and will undoubtedly ignite the entire city for one night." Taking its name from Cream, a clubbing brand that became popular in Liverpool during the 1990s, the Creamfields festival was set up in 1998 and has expanded to 15 countries. It is expected to become an annual event for Abu Dhabi.

Underworld, whose best-known track, Born Slippy, gained them worldwide attention when it was added to the soundtrack for Trainspotting, Danny Boyle's 1996 cult movie, are currently on a world tour promoting their latest album, Athens, which will be released later this month. Paul Taylor, 35, a Briton who works in corporate finance, said he was looking forward to seeing them. "I saw them years ago at Glastonbury but I haven't been to anything like that since. Creamfields should be a good show."

Abrahim Wakim, 22, a site manager from Canada, said: "Deadmau5 is going to be amazing because I saw him before in Montreal and he was awesome. I'm also looking forward to seeing Sasha because he has done some good remixes. It will be my first experience of this kind of rave here in the UAE so I'll be to comparing it to others I have been to. I hope it is as good." Regular tickets, priced at Dh495 (US$135), and Dh995 VIP passes go on sale today.