Bourne music festival hopes to bring much-needed boost for local bands
It’s after the Music Venue Trust revealed 125 grassroots venues have closed down in the past 12 months
Last updated 24th Jan 2024
Nene Valley Rock Festival is back for a second year, and is this time being held in the grounds of Grimsthorpe Castle from the 5th to the 8th of September.
The classic, blues and progressive rock festival will have three fully covered stages featuring around 60 bands.
The festival’s Director, Tony Castle, hopes the event will help platform ‘some amazing local bands.’
He said: “We want to give artists a chance to show what they can do to an audience that maybe wouldn’t see them otherwise, to then move on to bigger and better things.”
Just today, the Music Venue Trust has launched it's annual report, which revealed 125 grassroots UK venues have closed down in the past year - a rate of two every week.
The report also highlighted that 38% of music venues reported a loss in 2023, despite an increased demand for tickets.
Beverley Whitrick, COO of Music Venue Trust, said: “2023 was the worst year for venue closures since Music Venue Trust launched ten years ago. We are still losing on average two venues a week and those that have survived are now consumed by threats to their continued existence that they have no chance of overcoming without immediate help. Without external support our entire sector would be bankrupt.”
Tony Castle said that his festival will hopefully support local musicians that have been impacted by the closing down of live music venues.
He added: “Original artists are really struggling to get their voices heard out there at the moment. A lot of the venues that are still in existence find that they have to employ tribute bands to survive, because the majority of people want to see stuff they already know.
“So, we want to give space to original musicians who find it difficult to find a gig elsewhere.”
The tickets are now on sale, and there is a limit of 1000.
Tony said: “We're not aiming to be Glastonbury. The reason we set a limit of 1000 tickets is we want it to have a more intimate atmosphere than a huge festival where you end up watching it on a TV screen because you're so far away from the stage.”
You can find more information about the festival on their website and on their Facebook group.