1st Alresford Music Festival has the WOW! Factor

24 June 2010

Good weather, excellent music and family entertainment all contributed to a resounding success on June 19.

You could feel the sense of surprise and enjoyment in the audience at the 1st Alresford Music Festival.  Surprise at the very professional presentation and enjoyment not only of the varied range of music but also the food and drink, attractions for the children and merchandise on sale.

Noticeably, all age groups were represented and many stayed the course from midday until 11pm dancing and toe-tapping in a cooling breeze which ensured that he long sunny spells didn’t get overbearing. 

Many of the 1,100 festival-goers said that providing children’s entertainment was a terrific idea.  Circus skills, a pop music school, the ever popular face painting and simple drawing and painting were on offer and very well used, allowing mums and dads to wander around the stalls or “chill out” to the wide range of music.

The event, which was held on the sports field at Perins School, hit the mark as a showcase for local, regional and national talent and the standard of performance was top notch. 

Among the full programme of music, there was some pretty heavy rock from Lee Abraham as well as the original and distinctive sounds of The Ashbies (signed to Polydor on the Thursday before) and the folk-based dynamism of Pressgang leading up to a closing session by Hattie Jacques’ Playlist that sent the audience home happy. 

Students from the school played with great energy and skill and some of the school staff put on a highly entertaining set – with a little help from some of their students.  Head of Music at Perins, Liz McLaughlin, said "What a day! The Perins crew had a brilliant time performing at the Alresford Music festival and were on such a high from the excellent response that the crowds gave them. They are very keen to do it all again next year and hope that the performances that they gave will one day get them onto the main stage. I am proud to be their music teacher - they were a credit to the department and to the school. An excellent experience for both the pupils and teachers that performed and those that came to watch. Perins rocked the stage!"

Festival chief organiser Ken Veitch, who also played guitar with the crowd-pleasing Rattlewreck, said that the festival had achieved all of its aims.  “We wanted to provide Alresford with another dimension to its great character and to help out some good causes.  We’ve been lucky with the weather and had huge support from local organisations and that’s a perfect formula for a kick-off event.  We’d like to thank all those who played today and those who came along to hear the music and enjoy the experience.”  Referring to comments made by almost every spectator at the event, he added “People are telling us they want this to be a permanent fixture in the calendar - well we’re raring to go for next year”.

The organisers worked hard to ensure that the event was environmentally friendly and its “leave no trace” policy returned the school playing field to perfect condition.  While it is understood that the police took a couple of calls about the volume of the music during the event, other complaints about noise in the small hours of Sunday morning were a case of mistaken identity, being the result of another event nearby.  The festival finished at 11pm sharp as planned.

---

Editor’s notes:
The first Alresford Music Festival was held at Perins School’s playing field on Saturday 19 June 2010.  This not-for-profit event included numerous  bands from around the region including The Ashbies, Polly & the Billet Doux, Pressgang, Hattie Jacques’ Playlist, No Through Road, Broken Links, Della Perrett's Sweetedge, Modern Cliches, Lee Abraham Band, Rattlewreck, Phil Freeman (Piano Girl) and Bighton Rock. 

Main sponsor First Option is a niche IT business specialising in custom software solutions and specialist helpdesk services.  It started business in 1989 in Kings Worthy, before moving to Itchen Abbas and then to Alresford.  It has a range of clients from 2 people businesses up to global international companies. For further information see www.firstoption.net.

For further details please contact the deputy press officer:
Stuart McCullouch
Telephone: 01962 737252
Email: armour@perins.hants.sch.uk