Hertford Music Festival 2012: This year it’s August!

Posted on January 18th, 2012

FRIDAY 3RD AUGUST TO MONDAY 27TH AUGUST

Yeah, we’re changing the month again! But please read on because we’re pretty sure you’ll agree that this is our best option.

In the year’s first Hertford Music Festival meeting of supporters, helpers, musicians, publicans, councillors, sound engineers and promoters, Kev Saunders outlined the options regarding the timing of this year’s festival.

Briefly, May’s a bit too chilly for the outdoor stuff. June’s very busy already with the Diamond Jubilee and Hertford Carnival – as is July, with the arrival of the Olympic Torch, Open Air Theatre at the Castle and lots of other events with which we’d prefer not to compete.

So, August it is! And all concerned agreed that it will work very well, compressing events into a hectic three-week schedule. Kicking off with Rock at the Castle on Sunday the 5th, this year’s programme will embrace the Folly at the Folly on the 19th and climax with what we hope will be the biggest and best Musical Mystery Tour ever throughout the bank holiday weekend (Friday 24th to Monday 27th August) – thereby including the brilliant Rock in the Car Park at the Farmer’s Boy as the final show!

We’re working on lots of new ideas to jam into that three weeks – so watch this space for more info about a summer you’ll love.

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Royston Ukelele Orchestra

Posted on August 11th, 2011

More from The Mystery Tour. This time it’s the Royston Ukelele Orchestra performing in Bircherley Green.

Thanks agai to hertsWEB TV for the coverage.

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Rock At The Castle: Photos

Posted on August 9th, 2011

The year’s Rock At The Castle was another great success with over 5000 people attending and £2600 raised for the Ancient Charities Of Hertford.

As well as live music on two stages, there was also plenty of food and drink, facepainting, clothes & jewellery, inflatable gladiator jousting and the ubiquitous bouncy castle.

Simple Smiles

Lots to eat

Juan Zelada on the main stage

Continue reading →

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After Show Parties

Posted on August 4th, 2011

We’re all set for Rock At The Castle on Sunday.  The show has to end at 7.30pm but don’t let that stop you rocking!

The ‘Official’ Rock at the Castle ‘after party’ is at The Ram in Fore Street… Lovely barbecue food and the wondrous Dan Tan Train Experience playing a mental mix of music!

The Lord Haig is putting some bands on too – as is The Stone House, with Silent Smiles reprising their Castle show plus Alex Gimson and Chez n Del (as seen there in the Musical Mystery Tour).

See you Sunday!

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Nuala At The Salisbury

Posted on July 30th, 2011

Another video from this year’s Musical Mystery Tour. This is Nuala performing “Choke” at The Salisbury Arms Hotel.

Video courtesy of hertsWEB TV.

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Chez’n'Del

Posted on July 27th, 2011

This video of Chez’n'Del performing at this year’s Musical Mystery Tour has just gone online care of hertsWEB TV.

The acoustic duo performed at The Stone House in Bull Plain as part of the music festival’s opening event, which saw musicians performing at a wide variety of venues around the town on Sunday 3rd July.

www.hertsweb.tv

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Rivals To Close Festival

Posted on July 26th, 2011

The final gig of this year’s Hertford Music Festival takes place at The Lord Haig on Sunday 7th August.

Following the festival’s showpiece event Rock At The Castle, The Rivals will be playing The Lord Haig in Railway Street from 8pm to 11pm.

The five-piece covers band perform material by The Beatles, Stones, Free, and The Who, as well as more recent material by The Kaiser Chiefs, The Killers and Oasis.

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Live at The Lord Haig

Posted on July 8th, 2011

Popular town centre pub The Lord Haig has four acts lined up for this year’s Music Festival.

Kicking off the series of shows are covers band The Mighty Wonderfuls, whose repertoire includes Make Me Smile (Cockney Rebel) , Baggy Trousers (Madness) and Jamming (Bob Marley).

Also scheduled for July are a pair of female solo artists, Laurel (16th) and Donna Bush (23rd).

Donna Bush an experienced session singer performing at many high end corporate events, weddings and charity balls. She has a great love for music of all types and this is reflected in her very extensive repertoire which ranges from The Beatles through to Amy Winehouse and a million more besides!

And rounding off the Lord Haig’s Music Festival season is a duo named Soul Intention, who will be performing on 6th August. The duo play good soul music from Motown right up to date, including reggae, soca & RnB, hip hop, dance & jazz in the set, Billie Holliday right up to Beyonce and everything in between.

The Mighty Wonderfuls play The Lord Haig on Saturday 9th July at 9pm. The pub features live music every Saturday.

Donna Bush an experienced session singer performing at many high end corporate events, weddings and charity balls. She has a great love for music of all types and this is reflected in her very extensive repertoire which ranges from The Beatles through to Amy Winehouse and a million more besides!!!!
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Axis Magazine Coverage

Posted on July 7th, 2011

We’re grateful to Axis Magazine for their coverage of the Hertford Music Festival in this month’s edition.

The 17th Hertford Music Festival takes centre stage across Hertford throughout July. Organised by local volunteers led by music director Kev Saunders, the festival has previously been held in May but has been moved to the heart of summer. It features a wide range of musical acts, ranging from classical to rock, performing at various venues across and  around the county town.

Musical Mystery Tour

The traditional curtain-raiser to the festival is the Musical Mystery Tour on Sunday 3rd July. It sees more than 100 of Hertford’s hottest and best rock, pop, folk, jazz, drum n bass, hip hop and classical musicians playing live at 30 venues around Hertford, from lunchtime to bedtime – and all for free.

There are more confirmed venues than ever before this year and they include: Baroosh, Hertford House Hotel, Hertford Museum, Pizza Express, Shades, The Black Horse, The Blackbirds, The Duncombe Arms, The Great Eastern Tavern, The Lord Haig, The Old Barge, The Old Cross Tavern, The Ram, The Salisbury Arms, The Saracen’s Head, The Six Templars, The Snug, The Stone House, The Two Brewers, The White Hart, The White Lion and The Woolpack. The list of acts includes songstress Nuala, Los Ladrones de Amor, the Bob Villains, Rob Clydesdale and the Hertford Allstars.

And just to prove the festival is not all about raucous rock n roll, there are two very different acts playing two special gigs of their own. Outside the White Hart in Salisbury Square, closing the show will be a good old-fashioned singalong (or knees-up if you prefer) featuring singer Barbara Hopkin, Harold Chaplin from Hertford Music Club on piano and swingin’ bass man John Cooper, playing as The Vineyard Jazz Trio. They’ll be playing songs almost everyone will know and love from The Beatles to music hall and songs from the musicals. Earlier in the day, Luisa Maria Rosina from the Royal Philharmonic will be playing clarinet in Hertford Museum’s Knot Garden from 3pm.

Keep up to date

The festival continues throughout July with gigs and events at different venues across town. Keep checking the updated website to find the latest news. Among venues taking part is the Hertford Corn Exchange in Fore Street, where on Saturday 9th July Green Onions are appearing. We’ll be previewing the festival’s closing event, Rock at the Castle, fully in the August issue of Axis. It’s in the grounds of Hertford Castle on Sunday 7th August from 12noon to 7pm.

A PDF of the Axis Magazine article can be found here (2.4MB).

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Sonic Boomtown

Posted on July 6th, 2011

Hertford Music Festival’s Musical Mystery Tour rocks Hertford like never before.

Hertford rocked from lunchtime till bedtime on Sunday 3rd July with the biggest and best ever Musical Mystery Tour, featuring more than 200 musicians at 27 venues around the town.

“With so many venues taking part, I was worried we’d be spreading our audience too thin – but people just poured into the town and packed out all the pubs and other venues all day long. It was definitely the best yet and I’d like to thank all the performers, venue managers, sound crew and volunteers for all their hard work to make this a terrific day for everyone in Hertford!” said Music Director Kev Saunders.

With packed pubs and in some cases all time record takings, the venue owners and managers were just as delighted:

“The Ram was packed to the rafters from the start and the bands and DJs had them dancing on the tables from 2pm till 11pm. It was a great day for the Hertford Community – and businesswise probably the best day ever in the pub’s history!”
Hannah Boote and Steve Gales, Landlords, The Ram

“Everything went smoothly on a gloriously sunny day. The bands were all well received and George Barnett got a standing ovation. Much quaffing.”
Simon Davis, The Old Barge

“A very successful day with excellent performances from all the artists and bands on the day. As well as a terrific uplift in takings we managed to raise several hundred pounds for our nominated charity Clic Sargent. Big thanks to everyone involved and who came down!”
Neal Wood. Manager, The Six Templars

“It was a real privilege to be part of the Musical Mystery Tour this year; we saw a great number of new visitors to the museum and the atmosphere that the music created in our little knot garden was a delight. Thank you to all those involved; we can’t wait for next year!”
Eleanor Payne, Learning Officer, Hertford Museum

“What a Sunday! The sun was out, Hertford was packed and the music was great thanks to hard work by Kevin Saunders and his colleagues! Running a pub is hard enough in this climate and it was a great to see so many people having fun in the pubs round town. Let’s hope that next year it can all happen again with the bigger businesses supporting this day so it can be even better!”
Simon Bliss, Landlord, Lord Haig

“The festival at the Saracens was a resounding success. We had 10 hours of live music which included 13 different acts and was ended with a very enjoyable open mic for those people who were unable to take part in the main event.  The whole day was very well supported by a very knowledgeable changing audience who were giving us really positive feedback all day.  All the performers performed superbly, all  looking  like they were enjoying themselves and showed what a depth of talent there is in and around the Hertford area.   We filmed the entire day and will be sending out free DVDs to each performer with their complete set. Special thanks to Matt Costin who co-ordinated all the events throughout the day. Can’t wait ’til next year! May I take this opportunity in thanking Kev Saunders for organising this fantastic event once again.”
Paul King, Landlord, The Saracens

Much More To Come!

There’s still a month more of Hertford Musical Festival, climaxing with Rock at the Castle in Hertford Castle Grounds on Sunday 7th August from 12.30pm till 7.30pm.

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