Solfest 2016 All systems go!
Solfest, 26th –28th August 2016
All system’s go!
After the news that Solfest was having a licence review for 2016 a few days ago some people were a little concerned that 2016 might not take place but I’m very pleased to confirm this news just in from Solfest director Tom Kay. Solfest 2016 will go ahead as planned.
“I’m over the moon with this common sense decision of the Licencing Panel. Events like Solfest represent an opportunity for people in our communities to come together and enjoy some good music, arts and entertainment and it would have been a real shame to have to take this away from them.
We’ve been running this event for 13 years and it wouldn’t have been possible without our great team of volunteers who give up their time for free to organise it and it wouldn’t have been possible without the people who every year decide to come and support us by buying a ticket.
For many, Solfest has put the Solway Firth on the map and this is invaluable to our local economy.This year has been a real fight against bureaucracy, we’ve never experienced anything like this before and I hope that events like ours won’t be crushed by paperwork.
We don’t organise Solfest to make money, we’re a not for profit organisation and the days when festivals like ours made money are gone.We organise it because we care and want to put on a great event for people to have a good time. Look forward to seeing all our loyal festival-goers dancing in the fields.”
Advance ticket are still available at the bargain price of £99 (adult) for the weekend and with the sun shining with the rest of August looking fine there really is no other place you should be this August Bank Holiday weekend (26-28th). Lined up for the delectation of the Solfest audience in 2016 are a veritable wealth of acts representing the sheer cornucopia of musical delights that make Solfest the very finest festival experience including:
Dreadzone – KOG & The Zongo Brigade – The Craig Charles Funk & Soul Club
Riot Jazz Brass Band – Inner Terrestrials – Zion Train
Tantz – The Mouse Outfit – Baka Beyond
Buffalo Brothers – China Shop Bull – Resonators
Fitty Gomash – Hardfloor – Iration Steppas – La La & The Boo Yaa
The After Hours – King Yoof – Sonny Wharton – Silicone Soul Graeme Reedie – Samson Sound
Jinx In Dub – Radical Dance Faction – Jenna & The G’s – Drum Machine – Red Eye Hi Fi
Space Cassette Take Over Ft Age of Glass & Henge – Mighty Oak Sound System – Hallouminati
A Man About A Dog – Celt Islam – Crystal Distortion SP23 – DJ Dolphin Boy – Mutanta
Dohnut – Free Wise Men – The Easy Stride Band– Maxiroots – Unity Sessions Soundsystem –The Most Ugly Child
Bushrocker Hi Fi – Firepit Collective – DJM – Tanante West African Drummers – Skayaman
Lyons & La Zel – Supa & Da Kryptonites – Axis Soundsystem – Hardwicke Circus
Blast Furness Carnival Band – Jambeater Soundsystem – The Hey Down Treaders…
And of course many many more: You want names…deep breath…here goes!…
Bag ‘O’ Spanners – Ring The Alarm – Phil Saunders – Vital Techniques – Catherine Ashcroft
John Players Specials – Dirtbox – Operation Soundsystem – Kryso – Rory Connor & Friends
Hypo – Templebys – Fat Albert – Dead Horse Gang – Scogans Run – Sol Y Sombra – Dansi
Trevor Roots – Bill Lloyd – Bad Transmission – Seamless – TZ – Baxter Rhodes & Friends
Good Foxy – Rev Dread – Uncle Carbunkle – Samurai Breaks – Trinity Lo Fi – Trash Manor DJs
D’Bleedin’ Blaggards – Zom-B – Mosienko Project – Dicky Flowers – The Soul Upsetter
Jagerossa – Samantha Loveridge – Flew The Arrow – Paul Thornton – Hardcore Gnomes
The Urbanizer & Doink – Underground Roots – The Fusion Brothers – The Hobo – Nema-Kuta
Bluejam Youth Music Project – Boomdang – Dub Wild – Galvatron – The Farmer – Simitu
Papa Shanti – The Broux – Ten Foot Wizard – Blanty – Gemma Furbank – Stig of the Dub
Sam Robinson & Friends – Strawberry Jam Sound – Home Grown – Jayney Mac – Panjenix
Professor Pumpernickle – Mr Kipling – Chantelle Barrow – Dubbers – Cumfy
Beach Club & Relic – LSD Licious – Ben Gates Sound Sculptures – Catholic Abuse Apology
And many more acts to find spread over 10 stages throughout the festival !
As ever Solfest offers a dazzling array of entertainment across practically every musical genre. If you don’t hear something that you like move along to another venue and try another taste of the Solfest experience. And we have stages galore including Drystone Stage, The Solway Bar, Unity Sessions,Lost’n’Found, Loungevity, The Love Shack, House Of Joy, Melodrome and Stylus featuring everything from folk to house, hip-hop to reggae, dub to soul, ska to Afrobeat…You get the picture?
And don’t forget our new children (of all ages!) The Jungle area that is completely dedicated to entertaining babies, kids and teens throughout the weekend. We have a very exciting program of activities, shows and workshops running all day with various evening entertainment too!
Solfest bounced back on a smaller scale and with a new, fresher attitude last year after taking a well deserved one year break after a decade. Solfest wanted to “return to our roots” with a more intimate event, but retaining the key features that has made it so popular over the past twelve years. And of course it worked with glorious music, fantastic weather and 2015 weighing in as one of the most successful and enjoyable Solfest’s to date.
Solfest director Tom Kay explains: “Last year we made a conscious decision to distance our festival from more commercial events, moving away from big headline names in order to put our resources into giving people the best festival experience over a full weekend rather than just a couple of hours each evening. As always we aim to keep prices down, avoiding hidden extras like over the top booking fees, extra charges for vehicles and camping. We’ll still allow you to bring your own booze and still charge sensible prices at our bars, which means that you get a fantastic weekend without breaking the bank.”
“Solfest is a festival run by festival goers, between us, we’ve seen it all, from huge events with hundreds of thousands of people to tiny first time parties with just a few hundred revellers. We like to think this gives us a unique insight into what makes a great festival tick.”
Solfest has evolved continually since its inception in 2003, transitioning from a local shindig, into one of the best loved of the UK’s independent festivals. Run by a dedicated team and a small army of volunteers, Solfest has stayed true to its anti-corporate roots. This means that art and decor take the place of ubiquitous advertising and the international big names don’t drown out the voices of the hidden gems.
Solfest takes place at Tarns, near Aspatria, Cumbria over the bank holiday weekend August 26-28.
Ticket prices range from £15 for children’s tickets to £99 for a full adult weekend. For full details see our website
Tickets will be available to purchase right on our very own brand new updated websitewww.solfest.org.uk