WESTFIELD Street Music Festival returns today after a stellar inaugural event last year.
Taking place on Sunday, June 7, between noon and 6pm, the festival is expected to draw around 3,000 people to the bars of Westfield Street for a day of music and entertainment.
More venues have signed up for the festival this year, including The Citadel Arts Centre, as organisers seek to build on the success of last year’s showstopper.
A family hub will offer free family music activities throughout the day at The Citadel.
There will also be a larger number of acts at this year’s festival, including a Tim Burgess (of The Charlatans) DJ set at the Imperial Bar and Dancefloor.
Celebrating the best musical talent across the region, last year’s inaugural event attracted thousands of music lovers and saw comedy star Johnny Vegas lend his support for a day packed with entertainment.
Paul Griffiths, owner of festival venue The Zoo Bar and one of the co-organisers, said: “Last year’s Westfield Street Music Festival was beyond our wildest dreams.
“We are not going to reinvent the wheel – we will look at what made last year such a hit and build from there.
“We have more bars involved than last year – the number has risen from 11 to 14.
“It all helps build community spirit on the day and pulls in a lot of people from outside the town.”
Matt Williams, manager at The Sefton, said: “We are looking to grow on what we achieved last time, and want to provide a good day for the town and raise a lot of money for charity.
“There will be a lot of local musical talent on offer, including The Central.
“Some of the young bands from last year have gone on to have regular gigs in the town and further afield.”
Brass and electronica marching band Harlequin Dynamite will perform their widely lauded colourful, vibrant and tribal ‘Hex’ street show to open the festival at noon.
Harlequin Dynamite Marching Band are an oddball collective of musicians, writers, artists and performers from Merseyside with a burgeoning national
reputation, so it’s a great chance to catch some cutting-edge music – they performed Hex at Liverpool’s LightNight in May, and it was met with fantastic reviews.
The festival also offers a great opportunity to see local arts initiative Heart of Glass in action.
Heart of Glass is St Helens’ ambitious response to Arts Council England’s (ACE) Creative Places and People Programme (CPP).
The Heart of Glass vision is to create a robust and vibrant arts sector that is valued by the community.
Therefore, the team was asked to devise a programme of family friendly activities that would support the growth of the festival and align its ambitions with a more family orientated audience, distinguishing this event from other, purely alcohol-led, initiatives.
As a result, Heart of Glass has financially supported the development of The Citadel as a family-friendly hub for the festival, organising its hugely successful Family Art Club format within the venue and offering a range of free family friendly activities over the course of the day.
So make sure you are around Westfield Street on Sunday, June 7 – it’s going to be big, busy and loud!
Message from the organisers: Children when accompanied by a responsible adult are welcome in most pubs and bars until 6pm.
Alcohol in any kind of container is NOT allowed on the street.
Some of the acts in this year's music festival line-up:
BAR FORTY FOUR
12.30pm ANDY WOOD
2pm THE CENTRAL
3.30pm TITORS INSIGNIA
5.30pm STILLIA
7.30pm THE AVENUE
BAR JAVA
12.30pm BONSAI BIGFOOT
1.45pm BANDIT AND BUTLER
3pm AIMEE
3.40pm ROULETTE
4.50pm SERRATONE
6pm PINK STEEL
7.15pm THE LOCKSTOCKS
8.30pm WEEKEND WARS
CITADEL ARTS CENTRE
Noon to 4pm FAMILY CHILL OUT ZONE
Noon to 4pm FAMILY ARTS HUB
4pm to 6pm URBANISATION MUSIC SHOW - headlined by THE AMBITION
COCO’S
DJ GARY PLAYING MOTOWN AND SOUL
DREEM
PERFORMANCE BY LEE DAVIDGE
IMPERIAL BAR AND DANCEFLOOR
4pm to 9pm TIM BURGESS SET (THE CHARLATANS)
INSOMNIA
4pm WILD CANNON
LILLIE’S BAR
2pm to 5pm THE RIVERMEN
5pm to 10pm MOGGY AND THE IRISH ROVER
10am until late MATTY AND THE FIDDLEZ
REHAB
1pm KYLE CROSBIE
3pm PUBLIC UNDERGROUND
RENSHAWS
PERFORMANCES BY POLKER DICE AND DANIEL McCAFFERY
THE SEFTON
1pm JACKIE BOND BAND
2.15pm BECKI LEIGH
3pm THE SWIFTYS
4pm JOHN HUNTINGDON
4.45pm THE BINGO BROTHERS
6pm KINDEST OF THIEVES
7pm MODIFICATION
8pm JAMES IRLAM
9pm THE PRETTY PENNYS
TANK BAR
12.30pm BAILEY AND PHIL
1.30pm STU OGDEN
2.30pm OLD FARTS AT PLAY
3.30pm PAUL KAPPA
5pm THE SWAMPSTOMPERS
6pm SHAUN O’NEILL
WESTFIELDS
1pm SCHO
2pm EVIL PICCOLO
3pm JOE HILL
4pm ROBBIE CAVANAGH
5pm THE PHONICS
THE WHEATSHEAF
12pm PANIC
1.30pm SHEILA
3pm DIAMOND
4pm RIVER CITY
THE ZOO BAR
12.30pm THE MAC BROS
2pm THE LOUNGS
3.30pm JERAMIAH FERRARI
5pm THE GRACE
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