Three thousand people made their way to the Town Park, Midsomer Norton on Saturday, 3rd June for the Midsomer Norton Music and Arts Festival.
Thanks to the Community Trust, the event was a smash hit, with bands gracing the stage - which was fashioned out of the side of a truck - from 1pm right through to the evening.
The Entitled Sons finished off the day in style, performing a new song for the first time in front of an audience, which was well received. Sarah Beeny was spotted in the front row supporting her sons and husband who make up four out of five members of the band. Fifth member Sydney Bull is no stranger to the limelight - he's performed in a number of bands on the stage at Midsomer Norton over the years, and is using his talent to give back to aspiring musicians at Somervale School with guitar tutoring.
Decorated paper bags from the arts trail were displayed inside a marquee. A graffiti mural was also created on site during the festival, and in case that wasn’t enough, children were also entertained with face paints and a bouncy castle!
Martyn Plant was one of the key people behind the festival, and organised the music line-up for the stand out event.
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We were very pleased with the line up of acts for the festival. It is always our intention to have a variety of performers, and we managed that this year, with different styles of music, different types of groups and performers, and different ages and levels of performing experience. We had fifteen acts in total!
Our youngest acts were from Norton Hill and Somervale Schools, and we were very pleased to give them a platform to share their music and develop their skills. We were also very happy to provide an opportunity for several performers currently studying at Bath College to share their music. There was some fantastic talent on display, and they delighted the audience, and have made a great start to their musical careers.
More seasoned performers included Gavin Osborn, a highly regarded and in-demand local singer-songwriter, who engaged the crowd with humorous songs about the local area and his own observations. Local hillbillies, The Original Barn Finds, played their Americana-Bluegrass which got peoples’ toes tapping and feet stomping, with a mixture of well-known and original songs.
The Foxes, lead by Gavin Lazarus, rocked the crowd with well-known pop hits of the 1960s, played with great skill and flair, that had the crowd singing and dancing along.
And our headliners, The Entitled Sons, didn’t disappoint. They closed the Festival in style, with a performance full of energy and passion, as well as great musicianship. The crowd showed their enthusiasm for the band and their music, dancing and singing along in front of the stage, giving them a warm and wild Midsomer Norton welcome.
We were really pleased that they agreed to play for us, prior to their first Glastonbury Festival debut in a couple of weeks.
We mustn’t forget to recognise the hard work of Danny and Leo from Serenity Audio, who did an amazing job, managing the needs of so many bands, and making them all sound great.
Martyn Plant; Deputy Mayorof Midsomer Norton, Midsomer Norton Community Trust.
Many notable figures were spotted amongst the 3,000-strong crowd on the day, including Midsomer Norton Mayor, Gordon Mackay, who thoroughly enjoyed the day.
“This is what Midsomer Norton is all about - people volunteering their time and putting a lot of effort in to bring the community together. That’s what makes other people jealous of what we’ve got right here in Midsomer Norton.”
Richard Burgess, Manager of Somer Valley FM and member of the Community Trust said, “We put the acts together and what really pleased me today was hearing the young people from Somervale and Norton Hill Schools, as well as the Bath College bands. All were excellent along with the more established acts - The Entitled Sons of course will be going on to play Glastonbury next month. Absolutely top class.”
Alex Davis, Midsomer Norton Community Trust manager was also pleased with how things went, “Everyone has been so positive, there’s been a really great atmosphere, all the stall holders and the Outfield team running the bar have been fantastic. A massive thank you goes to all the volunteers that helped set up as well. I’m looking forward to doing it again next year!”
Flick through the photo galleries below to relive the weekend shindig all over again. Thanks to Richard Sykes, Gemma Esclarin Gros, Jenny Short and Richard Burgess for providing photographs.
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