FIFTY thousand festival-goers will come together to salute legendary rock star and spaceman David Bowie as they support Stand Up To Cancer at The Isle of Wight Festival 2016.

The moving tribute on Saturday will be a special moment of remembrance for the much loved musician who lost his battle to cancer in January and whose last ever festival appearance was at The Isle of Wight Festival in 2004.

Thousands of festival-goers will be invited to don David Bowie masks as they unite to celebrate his life.

Stand Up To Cancer, a joint fundraising campaign from Cancer Research UK and Channel 4, is the festival’s official charity partner for 2016. 

Launched in the UK in 2012, Stand Up To Cancer has already raised more than £25million to fund translational research, accelerating progress in cancer research and speeding up breakthroughs from labs to patients.

Together with the festival’s organisers, it’s calling on visitors to unite and Stand Up To Cancer in honour of the British icon.

A team of volunteers will be selling 20,000 cardboard David Bowie masks on Saturday, June 11, for a suggested donation of £1 each. Music lovers will then be invited to come together, wearing the masks, for the moment of remembrance at the main stage at 3.45pm.

It will be a particularly emotional moment for festival chief John Giddings. 

He said: “David was a true musical icon, an immense talent who as a performer, was incredible. His energy, creativity and passion was incomparable and I feel very lucky to have spent so many years working with him.

“His set at the Isle of Wight Festival in 2004 was one of the highlights of my career, and sadly his last UK festival show. I was hoping he’d play this year so our tribute to will be a very emotional moment for me.”

The David Bowie celebration is part of a jam-packed weekend of activities organised by Stand Up To Cancer at the Seaclose Park festival. Festival-goers can kick back and relax at the special Stand Up To Cancer Beach, premiering at this year’s event. There will be lots of activities taking place across the weekend including beach Zumba and Yoga classes, Bear Grylls Survival Training sessions, as well as face painting and an evening Glow Show. 

A team of Stand Up To Cancer volunteers will also be collecting donations for a range of merchandise, including Bahia bands and wristbands, in aid of the campaign.

Claire Rowney, director of Stand Up To Cancer, said: “We’re incredibly excited about our partnership with the Isle of Wight Festival. Not only will it give a huge boost to our fundraising, it’s a great way to engage with the festival-goers and showcase some of the fun ways that people can support Stand Up To Cancer’s work to beat cancer sooner. 

“We’ve made amazing progress against cancer in the past few decades but one in two of us in the UK will develop cancer in our lifetime, so we can’t afford to stand still. All the money raised through this fantastic partnership will help fund ground-breaking cancer research that will help save more lives, more quickly.”

Stand Up To Cancer is supported by a host of celebrities including Davina McCall, Alan Carr and Adam Hills. This year’s campaign culminates on Friday, October 21 with a night of live TV on Channel 4 led by the brightest stars in film, TV and music.

People who can’t make the festival can show their support for the campaign by signing up now for a free fundraising pack, full of promotional materials and fundraising hints and tips. 

For more information visit standuptocancer.org.uk