Hello and thanks for picking up your free copy of the July issue of SLAP. July already? What happened to June? I here you say...
In last months editorial I talked about the sheer amount of local festivals we’ve had spring up recently and I think I probably only scratched the surface. The boutique festivals for me are one the great success stories in an ever changing music industry. Perfect for bringing bigger names in to help swell the ticket sales whilst giving local acts the opportunity to play before quite large audiences. Also perhaps more importantly, exposing our younger folk to ‘real’ music played live instead of the X-Factor bilge they’re in danger of become used to. But it’s not just music is it? Any excuse to have a festival it seems, which is fine by me. There are literature festivals, poetry festivals, food festivals, film festivals, comedy festivals and my favourite - beer & cider festivals. Last month we even had our first Canal festival followed by a festival of maps of all things! (Ok, I’ve been funnier...). Of course many of these small shindigs raise enormous amounts of money for their respective charities which is now more important than ever, so long may it continue...
In this issue we take a look back at Wychwood festival and the lovely Lunar festival amongst others and watching Glastonbury on the telly as I burned the midnight oil on my deadline, really has whet my appetite for this year’s Nozstock. We also look forward to Malvern Rocks a week later, followed by Lakefest a week after that. It’s relentless!
Talking of festivals, we will be announcing our line-up for the Worcester Music Festival SLAP Night in the coming weeks. We have six acts for you of the highest caliber with at least one surprise. The SLAP night takes place at the Marrs Bar on the Saturday evening after the amazing Jason Bowld drum clinic (see page 20). So keep your eyes peeled on our facebook and twitter but also check out the WMF website for regular updates.
Also as usual we bring our usual round-ups and arts news from our local art centres and theatres. I say this all the time but it’s true; there’s something here for everyone...
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