Well the festival season has drawn to a close and it’s been a fabulous, perfect summer for it; long, hot days and long, balmy evenings. I don’t know about anyone else but over the last couple of years I have noticed that festivals are on the increase. Of course the major ones have been going years- Glastonbury (apart from this year), IOW, Reading to name but a few. No, I am talking about our more local events. There seems to have been an explosion of town, village and even pub festivals in my local area of East Sussex on the South Coast. Apart from tribute bands on our local bandstand in Eastbourne I have watched local bands this summer on fields, in the street and on the beach and I have enjoyed every one of them.
This got me thinking what a brilliant opportunity it is for local bands to play live, either for the sheer fun of it, or to get themselves noticed and hopefully, possibly bag themselves a future gig. More than this, however, it gives many of us the chance to listen to and enjoy live music that we might not have had. High ticket prices have excluded a large number of people from the chance to go and see big name performers, as have the distances and cost required to travel to gigs in our larger towns and cities. Local festivals open us up to music that perhaps we wouldn’t otherwise listen to, but which catches our ear on a hot summer afternoon out with family, friends and a cold beer or two. Roll on next summer and next summer’s festivals.
Milly Space 