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:

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

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.

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.