There’ll be an explosive start to the Gate To Southwell festival on Thursday June 9th. To celebrate the tenth birthday of the Midlands’ premier acoustic and roots event, there’s an evening of great music plus a firework display at the site near Southwell Racecourse. The fireworks, and free buses between Southwell and the festival site, have been sponsored by Gusto Homes/Becher’s Court, the new development on Southwell’s Burgage.
The opening night party features one of Ireland’s greatest traditional folk acts Kila headlining alongside Jim Moray and Sam Carter’s new band False Lights. Plus there’s the festival’s new “alternative stage” featuring diverse acts such as the Latin passion of Alejandro Toledo’s Full Attack Band, Nottingham’s highly-rated rising indie sons Same Streets and Glaswegian alt-country stars James Edwyn & The Borrowed Band.
“It promises to be a great start to the 10th birthday weekend,” says festival director Mike Kirrage. “We’ve come a long way since the first festival with less than 500 people attending. This year we’re expecting around 4000 visitors to Southwell over the four days and we’re increasingly attracting great artists from all over the world.”
Following Kila on Thursday, the festival continues with American hillbilly stars Hayseed Dixie headlining on Friday (10th) and English folk roots favourites Show of Hands making a welcome return on Saturday evening (11th). Scotland’s Eddi Reader will bring the tenth celebrations to an emotional and entertaining close on Sunday night (12th).
“We’re extremely grateful for the help we receive to make the festival run smoothly and be successful,” says Mike Kirrage. “There’s a lot of hard work behind the scenes from our committee, stewards and many other volunteers and we really value the support we get from the people and businesses of Southwell and the surrounding region. Long may it continue.”
With five different music stages, great family entertainment, plus the usual fine mix of food and drink tents, a craft fair, a beer and cider festival plus pub sessions in town, the 10th Gate To Southwell (June 9th-12th) is guaranteed to be an unmissable Midlands event.
*To help promote the 10th festival there’s an advance pop-up gig in Nottingham this Saturday night featuring the highly-entertaining Penny Black Remedy with support from Cheshire & The Cat. The venue is Spanky Van Dyke’s at 17 Goldsmith Street, Nottingham NG1 5JT. Doors open at 7.30pm. Tickets £10. Venue contact: 0115 924 3730.
Or visit the Gate To Southwell website for more details on festival events – www.gtsf.uk
