Stamford Riverside Festival
Encyclopedia
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
music festival
Music festival
A music festival is a festival oriented towards music that is sometimes presented with a theme such as musical genre, nationality or locality of musicians, or holiday. They are commonly held outdoors, and are often inclusive of other attractions such as food and merchandise vending machines,...
, devoted to music of all genres including rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
, punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
, indie, acoustic
Acoustic music
Acoustic music comprises music that solely or primarily uses instruments which produce sound through entirely acoustic means, as opposed to electric or electronic means...
and more recently dance
Dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...
. The festival has been ongoing for over 25 years, under many guises such as Rock on the Rec, Rock On The Meadows and Music on the Meadows and has played host to many artists, including Midget
Midget (band)
Midget are a guitar band from Stamford, Lincolnshire who formed in 1996. The trio released the mini-album "Alco-pop" and the albums Jukebox, Individual Inconsistent and The Milgram Experiment. Two of their singles made the UK Singles Chart in 1998...
, Hazel O'Connor
Hazel O'Connor
Hazel O'Connor is an English singer-songwriter and actress. She is the daughter of a soldier from Galway who settled in England after World War II to work in a car plant...
, The Levellers, Blast, and March To The Grave.
History
The origins for the Stamford Riverside Festival can be dated back over 25 years to a small gathering on the Recreation Ground in StamfordStamford, Lincolnshire
Stamford is a town and civil parish within the South Kesteven district of the county of Lincolnshire, England. It is approximately to the north of London, on the east side of the A1 road to York and Edinburgh and on the River Welland...
, Lincolnshire, this small initial festival was dubbed Rock on the Rec. Following increasing success of this event the location was changed to its current position on the meadows by the banks of the River Welland
River Welland
The River Welland is a river in the east of England, some long. It rises in the Hothorpe Hills, at Sibbertoft in Northamptonshire, then flows generally northeast to Market Harborough, Stamford and Spalding, to reach The Wash near Fosdyke. For much of its length it forms the county boundary between...
. This change in location brought about an apt change in name to Music on the Meadows. In 1999 the festival was rebranded as the Riverside Festival and saw a more organized approach to the running of the festival, including the introduction of more stages and stalls.
Due to the increasing financial strain of running a free festival, and ever mounting difficulties in obtaining sponsorship, there was an introduction of a £2.00 entry fee for adults. Other changes included the banning of bringing food and drinks to the event, something which had made the festival popular in the past.
2009 Festival
The 2009 Stamford Riverside Festival took place on the 4th July 2009. The festival line-up was as follows:| Riverside Stage | Marquee Stage | Acoustic Stage |
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Stornoway (band) Stornoway is a British alternative indie folk band from the Cowley area of Oxford. It consists of singer and guitarist Brian Briggs; multi-instrumentalists Jon Ouin and Oli Steadman, and the latter's brother Rob on drums. The band is usually joined by trumpeter Adam Briggs and violinist Rahul Satija... |
2010 Festival
For the first time the festival was held over two days, in order to celebrate the Riverside Festival's 10th anniversary. Saturday 3 July hosted the Riverside and Marquee stages from 1pm until 10:40pm. Sunday 4 July hosted the Riverside and Acoustic stages, taking a more relaxed atmosphere to the previous day. As in previous years there was the 'Road to Riverside' competition, allowing for local bands to compete for a slot at the festival As well as this there was another competition called "Young-Plugged" A local band named "Centre Excuse" won and played on the buskers stage. The band line up was as follows:| Riverside Stage | Marquee Stage | Singer/Songwriter Stage | |
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Saturday 3 July |
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Sunday 4 July |
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The Marquee Stage will become the Acoustic Tent for the Sunday.
2011
It was confirmed on 24 December 2010 that the festival is cancelled for 2011. Stamford Town Council had requested fully audited accounts of the sponsoring organisation, which, at an estimated cost of £2,400 they were not prepared to provide. A social networking campaign led to the staging of a picnic on the planned date festival, 2nd July 2011. Unexpectedly local band March To The Grave made an appearance and played a 40 minute set in support of the Riverside festival.External links
- Official Riverside Festival Website
- Danny Fontaine & The Horns of Fury at the Riverside Festival 2010
- Loosehounds at the Riverside Festival 2010
- Flutatious at the Riverside Festival 2010
- Lost Souls at the Riverside Festival 2010
- Jez Hellard & The Roving Blades at the Riverside Festival 2010
- Los Salvadores at the Riverside Festival 2010
- Whimwise at the Riverside Festival 2010