Key:Fest

KEY:FEST

your e-Zine with news and updates for this year’s festival

IT’S MUCH MORE THAN MUSIC TO

KEY:FEST

Welcome

Welcome to the very first edition of the KEY:FEST e-Zine.

Thank you for subscribing to our mailing list.

Keynsham Music Festival has become one of the largest community festivals in the South West and we will be bringing you news and updates fron all around the festival.

We owe so much to the generosity of so many individuals and businesses. This is an opportunity to throw some light on these very important aspects of the festival.

We aim to provide a more in depth view of the various parts of the festival - the organisation, the performers, sponsors - an opportunity to go behind the scenes.

We’d welcome your feedback and we’d also like to know what else you you’d like to see in upcoming issues.

Please use the contact details opposite.

MUCH THAN US

Interview

KEYNSHAM MUSIC FESTIVAL

MOVING WITH THE TIMES

Having just celebrated our 25th Anniversary it’s perhaps a good opportunity to look back and reflect on how the festival has grown over the years.

It’s also a great time to look to the futurewhat do we want the festival to look like in years to come?

In the beginning the festival was developed as an initiative by the Town Council. It provided a platform for local

musicians to showcase their talents and always took place in the Memorial Park on the first Sunday in July.

The festival proved to be very popular and grew year on year.

The Council decided that it had got too big for their staff to manage as well as their day jobs, so a limited company was formed with a Board of Directors made up from a number of local volunteers.

The limited company operates as a Not For Profit and has subsequently been successful in obtaining charity status.

From the humble beginnings of a one day event, the festival is now a week long event utilising a number of local venues before moving in to the park for a few ticketed performances leading up to the big weekend.

The festival not only celebrates all genres of music but now also includes the celebration of many forms of art. We try to provide something for all tastes and all ages.

We now have four music stages, a dance stage, a wellbeing village, art zones and

performance arts as part of a special family day.

Looking back, there have been some really memorable occasions:

Staging the first ever full Opera in Keynsham.

Watching Ellis Grover crossing the Memorial Park on a tighrope at the height of the 1968 flood water.

Welcoming back festival regular since a young age, Louisa Baker with her international all girl rock band.

Be kind, be bold, be brilliant.

Big Love, Ellis Grover x

Looking forward, we will continue to make sure we are providing the most professional stage environment possible for our performers.

Recognising the changing demographic of the town we will be developing more family oriented entertainment and activities.

We have been so pleased with our partnership with Circomedia that you will

be seeing more circus related activities for the whole family.

We are also working very closely with Keynsham’s new Youth Development Officer and this year we will see a whole new area dedicated to the 11 to 19 age group. We are very excited to see how this develops.

We are also developing more public hands on art projects.

MEET THE TEAM

WE’LL BE INTRODUCING MORE OF THE TEAM IN FUTURE ISSUES

Sheila has been part of the festival team for what seems like forever. She looks after the rest of like a Mum.

Be sure to say hello as she loves a chat does Sheila!

SHEILA WHITTLE

What can we say about the legend that is Ric?

Ric was one of the founding members of the festival and has worked continually ever since to develop it to become the festival that performers want to play.

So many performers come off the stage after their set and complement the quality of the stage and sound - all down to Ric.

Quite a mean bass player too....

RIC DAVISON

what of us our

Sue is our Finance Director and has one of the toughest jobs going!

During the last year especially, with costs rising as a result of the pandemic and the cost of living crisis, it was especially important that we had a tight grip on the finances.

SUE PAULLEY

THE BUCKETEERS

We definitely couldn’t do without the many volunteers who collect the donations at the gates.

The festival relies very heavily on the donations given by the public. We make decisions about the expenditure for the festival way in advance and put trust in the public that, if it can be afforded, that we will get enough income to break even for the year.

Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.

Henry Ford

Another first for Keynsham Music Festival!

The award-winning Bath Gilbert & Sullivan Society makes its debut at this year’s festival with a concert performance of one of the most popular and successful shows of all time.

The Mikadofirst hit the stage in March 1885 and ran for a record breaking 672 performances. It boasts some of Sullivan’s greatest musical hits including ‘Three Little Maids’, ‘Tit Willow’ and the famous ‘Little List’ song.

Although Gilbert’s plot pokes fun at Victorian British society, politics, customs and pretentions much will strike a chord with today’s audiences.

In the story Nanki-Poo loves Yum-Yum but she’s engaged to Ko-Ko, the new Lord High Executioner.

When the Mikado orders a beheading, Nanki-Poo and KoKo try to come to an arrangement that doesn’t involve anyone losing their head!

All the plot complications resolve themselves in true Gilbertian style and you’ll enjoy a really fun, musical, entertaining evening.

Since 1944 Bath Gilbert & Sullivan Society has been appreciating, performing and promoting the works of one of the greatest and most successful musical theatre partnerships of all time.

We are so grateful to the Society for not only performing in Keynsham for the very first time but to do it in a park in a Big Top!

Saturday 1st July 7:00pm

Nova Youth Arts Festival

Brand new for 2023 - an arts festival developed by and for young people of Keynsham

We are absolutely delighted to be working with the Town Council’s new Youth Development Officer to develop a completely new youth zone within the festival.

The area will be designed and developed by the young people for young people.

Aimed at ages 11 to 19, there will be a full schedule of programmed events including, workshops, performances and activities.

There will also be a chill-out zone and food and drink will be available.

Situated near to Echo Bridge will be a new stretch tent which will be home for the whole of the weekend.

Nova Youth Arts

There will be a launch party held on the Friday evening featuring Radio One DJ, Seb Bailey.

Seb worked with us as a very young festival director for many years and it has been a great pleasure for all of us to see him fulfil his dreams to become a self employed radio DJ.

He has all of the major radio stations under his belt, including Radio One and Virgin Radio and now, as his contribution to the new Nova Youth Festival, is undertaking a series of workshops at the Time Out youth club to pass on some of his skills on the decks.

It will be great to see him performing once again in his home town - alongside his new students.

Arts Festival

You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.”

Maya Angelou

Spotlight

The Wristband Queen

During the festival a couple of years ago, out of the blue, Tracie came up to the Information Point and asked if she could help sell some wristbands.

Of course! was the immediate answer!

Half an hour later she reappeared and asked for more wristbands. By the end of the day Tracie had sold more than 500!

It may not be immediately obvious but these wristbands are an important source of revenue for the festival.

Tracie is determined to break her record this year. Let’s make it happen!

Last year, Tracie spent the whole of the festival week selling wristbands at each of the events and then continued throughout the weekend. By the end of the week she had sold over 900!

Realising that the festival was struggling to cover the costs at the end of the festival, she decided that she would sell her handmade jewellry which she creates as a hobby, to raise further funds to help cover our costs.

Tracie has continued to craft more jewellry pieces and sell them whenever she can - most notably at the Winter and Coronation Festival thanks to the kindness of the Golden Oldies charity shop.

Single handedly, Tracie has raised well over £1,000 for festival funds and has subsequently become Citizen of the Year!

She has been an inspiration to us all and, we cannot thank her enough.

Tracie-Jane Bath

Thursday 29th June 7:00pm

A chance for you to try out a whole variety of wellbeing activities.

Meryton Place sponsors

Despite the torrential rain last year, the Wellbeing Village proved to be a popular addition to the festival - providing an area where festival-goers can go to take a break from the excitement of the festival and focus on their physical and mental wellbeing.

This year we are very pleased to welcome Meryton Place who are sponsoring this year’s Village.

The Wellbeing

The Wellbeing Village

The village is designed to promote health and wellness through various activities, workshops, and services.

The village includes several different activities - yoga and pilates where instructors offer classes throughout the day, massage where participants can receive massages to relax their muscles, nutrition where you can learn about healthy eating and receive advice on how to maintain a balanced diet while at the festival.

On offer will be alternative therapies such as reflexology, or Reiki. These therapies can help to alleviate stress, improve energy levels, and promote overall wellbeing.

The Wellbeing Village is an excellent opportunity for festivalgoers to take care of their physical and mental health while enjoying the festivities. It provides a space for attendees to relax and recharge, allowing them to fully enjoy the festival experience.

Wellness:

“The state of being in good health, especially as an actively pursued goal.”

Wellbeing Village

Seize the Day

Seize The Day are an English acoustic band in the radical folk tradition, but drawing on global musical roots. We write songs to celebrate, inspire and support the liberation of life.

Whatever needs to change or be defended in this world, we sing to make you laugh about it, cry about it, dance about it – maybe even inspire you to believe that you can DO something about it.

Seize The Day came out of Britain’s Road Protest Movement in 1996, when Theo and Shannon began playing together at the site of the Newbury Bypass in Southern England. Since then the line-up has expanded and gone through many incarnations, with our sounds evolving along the way. As part of the Eco Festival, we welcome Seize the Day + Gecko on Friday 30 th June in the park 7:30pm

We play at major British festivals, (Glastonbury, Cambridge, Towersey, Beautiful Days, etc), and a host of smaller ones. We also perform at theatres, fundraisers, folk-clubs, night-clubs, village halls and colleges. But you’re just as likely to meet us at your nearest frontline protest, whether it’s against fracking, or nuclear weapons, or fossil fuels.

Globally, we’ve toured American towns and cities, Indian farming villages, and visited Ireland, Palestine and the big WTO protests in Prague and Seattle. Nowadays we don’t like to fly because of the CO2 emissions of air-travel.

Friday 30th June 7:30pm

This year our supported charity is Julian House

Each year, we choose a charity to benefit from our Comedy Night. We donate a %age of all profit.

We have specialist support and refuge accommodation for men, women, and children escaping domestic abuse

Julian House is a charity that supports vulnerable and at-risk individuals. These include adults and young people experiencing homelessness, escaping domestic abuse, adults with learning difficulties and people who need support after leaving prison. They operate more than 40 different projects, accommodation sites and

social enterprises across South West England. These include homeless outreach services, a 20-bed emergency access hostels and support.

They also run multiple training programmes (including the bike workshops in Bath and Trowbridge) to help people regain confidence, learn new transferable work skills, get back into education, volunteering and employment.

“Our projects not only address the symptoms of homelessness but also the underlying reasons why men and women are forced onto the streets.”

Thursday 29th June 9:00pm

“We seek to build a just society where socially excluded people are supported and empowered to build sustainable, independent lives.”

KEY:FEST

2023