THE first Barnsley Live festival will take place this weekend, with performances from 144 acts across 18 town centre venues.
It has been organised by a group of local music promoters and musicians after LIVE in Barnsley, which became a firm fixture in the festival calendar, was scrapped following last year’s event.
At the helm of the new group is Chris Scarfe from One Over the Eight music promotions. He told the Chronicle this week that organisers were both excited and nervous about the event.
He said: “We’re all looking forward to it. We’re excited and nervous all at once. I don’t think there is much in our control now. Everything is in place, barring any massive emergencies.
“It’s been a long learning curve. All of us have done gigs and run events before but this is something completely different. Just dealing with the sheer number of people involved, making sure people know what they are doing; you keep finding new things to worry about.
“Last minute drop-outs are inevitable. It’s the law of numbers, there are 144 acts and if someone gets ill or something happens, I think we’re in a position to cover that.”
Chris said practically every genre of music had been covered and festival goers were sure to find something they would like. He’s also praying for decent weather.
“Every genre has been covered, from folk to metal and everything in between. If you’re completely new to the town and have never seen any of the bands, it might be hard to judge but if you walk about you will find something you like - I’m positive of that.
“I’ve tried not to look at the weather until this week and it said showers. People will be indoors anyway. If it’s cloudy, I will be happy.”
One band Chris is looking forward to seeing is Manchester band The Elephant Trees, but said he could not pick between the local bands.
“The Elephant Trees sound great, I listened to then when they applied, and liked some of their songs. But there are too many local bands to name. We will be all over the place on the day, but I will be popping into as many as I can.”
Young music lovers will also be able to attend performances after an agreement was reached to allow under 18s in until 9pm as long as they are accompanied by an adult and do not drink alcohol.
“Every venue will be slightly different, but if you are under 18 but are with an adult, I think you will be fine until 9pm.”
The official festival charity is Creative Recovery, which will receive all profits. Representatives will be selling programmes on the day and collecting donations in buckets. It will also host the mobile street piano stage. Chris said they had been selected after seeing their funding cut over the last few years.
Chris added: “Thank you to everyone who has supported us. We’ve had lots of offers of help. No one has complained, the bands have been really compliant and there have been no issues. We’re just hoping for a really good day. We’re going to The Garrison afterwards if anyone wants to join us for a drink.”
