The Beijing Pop Festival (BPF), one of the biggest outdoor music events in Asia, has announced a line-up of this year's big-name acts, including Brett Anderson of Suede and Nine Inch Nails.

Leading hip-hop stars PE, celebrating their 20th anniversary, will open the first night acts on September 8 with a retrospective set.

"Nine Inch Nails, winners of two Grammy Awards, is set to close the festival on September 9," said Liu Fei, the spokesperson for Rock for China Entertainment Ltd. (RCE), one of the festival organizers, on Tuesday.

Brett Anderson, the founder and voice of Suede, will perform solos and with his band. They played together in a concert in China four years ago.

"The rock band the New York Dolls, Rize from Japan and Mumiy Troll from Russia are in the line-up," Liu added.

Many leading Chinese bands will also play.

"It's a great opportunity for international music circles to get acquainted with Chinese rock," said Cui Jian, China's godfather of rock 'n' roll. He will perform on the second night.

The festival will be held on two stages in Chaoyang Park, located in the eastern part of Beijing. RCE is in charge of one stage and Hit FM of China Radio International hosts the other.

RCE has received more than 120 requests from bands, but the final list of participants is still up in the air, according to Liu.

The other stage will have about 20 Chinese and foreign bands. The two lead bands are the Swedish group Mando Diao and the eccentric Japanese garage rock outfit Doc Holiday and Apache Train.

Launched two years ago, Beijing's annual pop festival has become a big music event with ever increasing international participation.

Advance tickets for the festival cost 200 yuan for one day and 380 yuan for the whole weekend. Day tickets at the gate are 250 yuan.

"Music has no borders. We want Chinese audiences to be able to enjoy the best music in the world," Liu said.

(Xinhua News Agency August 1, 2007)