Coventry City of Culture: Hopes of presenting a "music city" to the world
The year already has a number of music festivals planned and more to be announced
Last updated 18th May 2021
Coventry's year as UK City of Culture has officially begun and with a number of live music events already scheduled for later this summer, music fans across the country will be flocking to the city as the UK continues to leave lockdown.
Preparations for CVX Festival, Home Sessions, Radio Festival, Sound Systems and Godiva Festival are all well underway.
CVX Festival is being organised for August by Coventry born rapper JAY1, along with the Coventry Youth Partnership, Arts Against Violence and Positive Youth Foundation.
CVX Festival will be a pioneering three-day arts activism festival curated by young people in the city. JAY1 will co-produce live music for CVX with his brand ONE Wave.
Home Sessions will be a weekend festival at the end of July, put together by Terry Hall from The Specials.
Born and raised in Coventry and lead singer of the iconic Coventry band The Specials, as curator, Terry Hall will create a weekend that blends international legends with contemporary pioneers.
The Festival will also shine a light on the rich history of the Coventry music scene in what will be one of the most unique experiences of 2021.
Chenine Bethena, Creative Director behind the year-long celebration, said: "What we've tried to make sure we do, throughout the year not just this summer, is make sure there's a lovely balance of all music genres, of all musical styles.
"You'll notice we've been working closely with the Godiva Festival and one of my big ambitions is to have a South Asian stage of music so we can really promote some of the great artists from the South Asian scene and bring in a South Asian audience. We've also been working closely with the Irish community so watch out for an announcement there.
"We're also looking back at the history of rave. I'm not going to tell you what's happening but that will all be coming out soon. There really is a lot to look forward to for music fans over the next year."
Most live music events have been pushed to later in the summer to allow for more lockdown restrictions to be eased and so organisers have a clearer idea of just how many people will be allowed to attend and how much social distancing will need to be enforced."
Chenine said: "The main challenge with these events is they cost a lot of money and when the audience numbers are reduced because of COVID, clearly the numbers don't balance and organisers and artists end up taking big gambles financially.
"But we're feeling more confident now, the vaccine rollout has been successful and more and more people are getting tested. The success of the live music trial in Liverpool over the bank holiday at the start of this month showed there's a growing appetite for gigs and live music events again."
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