Ricky Gervais To Star At US Festival

David Bowie has selected comedian Ricky Gervais and The Arcade Fire to perform at the inaugural High Line Festival in Manhattan.

The festival will include music, performance, film, comedy and visual art.

It will be held from May 9-19, 2007 in venues near the High Line, an elevated rail structure on the city's west side. Events will also to be held at Radio City Hall and Irving Plaza.

A portion of the proceeds will go to benefit Friends of the High Line, an organisation working with the city to transform the 1930s rail structure into a park.

David Bowie, a co-founder of the festival, is the curator of this year's event.

"The request was for me to choose artists and acts that I myself would go out of my way to see," the 60-year-old rocker said. "Although this inaugural year will be modest in scale, we've been lucky in that many whom I asked have accepted."

Also set to appear are the The Polyphonic Spree, Air, Deerhoof, The Secret Machines, Laurie Anderson and 87-year-old spoken-word poet Ken Nordine.

David Bowie has selected 10 of his favourite Spanish-language films to be shown at the festival.