Feature article: Summer Sundae Festival 2011

This page is part of the Music Section

Festival report: final edition.

After a fantastic three days at the Summer Sundae Weekender, Artsin concludes its report.

Our coverage is split into three pages

This page: Festival overview (scroll down)

Friday 12th August

Acts from the various stages

Highlights: Raghu Dixit Project

Saturday 13th August

Acts from the various stages

Sunday 14th August

Acts from the various stages

Highlights: John Cooper Clarke

Closing headliners: Example and McFly.

General overview of the festival

Leicester's prestigious music festival got off to a flying start on Friday, with seven stages of top class acts and a wide range of activities going on in between them for people of all ages.

There was a lot to choose from. No matter what your musical tastes, almost every flavour of rock, folk and other genres could be found somewhere on the programme.

Alongside music there was comedy, activities for the children and some exhibitions. Festival organisers had done a really good job to make the event attractive to a wide range of people of all ages.

There were plenty of food stalls on the site, offering a wide selection of cuisines. From good old fish and chips through to exotic menus, people were spoilt for choice. I sampled a dish from the excellent Thai food stall - stir fry chicken with cashew nuts and boiled rice, lovely! Thanks also to the stall from Wales who served extra large cups of coffee for only £1 - much appreciated on the early morning shift.

As you can imagine drinking was the order of the day and the selection in the Real Ale tent was truly mind-boggling. With plenty of of outlets both inside and outside and a range of prices, getting a drink was by no means difficult.

Who was there?

What struck me about the festival was that there were some big attendances at most of the stages at some time or other. Discerning music fans had figured out where to go to hear the music they liked. The show publicity was good, with both web site and printed line-ups being available to help get to the right stage at the right time.

Walking around the site I was struck by the wide range of ages passing by. There was sizable proportion of teenagers, attracted no doubt by the headline acts on Sunday but also by the large number of local bands who have strong followings in the younger age group.

The older generation was well represented too of course and my guess is that the event attracts people who attend every year since the festival started, eleven years ago. Wheel-chair users had special facilities, with a viewing area for them overlooking the main stage and there were toilets for people with disabilities. Event organisers had paid particular attention to ensuring that no one would have a problem with access to the festival site.

With this wide diversity of people, I can see the challenges that programmers had in making sure that a wide range of tastes were covered. The sheer variety of music on offer throughout the weekend was impressive: rock, jazz, blues, folk and electro, modern progressive could be found on the line-up on most days.

The only thing I would say in balance to this, is that stage organisers did not acknowledge the considerable interest locally of those who like metal and punk. As our pages reveal, Leicester and the county has some amazingly good bands playing these genres and the Midlands too offers many first class groups whose music leans towards the heavier side of the rock continuum. Admittedly, there are many other events that do cater for this end of the market, Download and Glastonbudget being but two of them. As a showcase for the vast array of local and Midlands talent, however, there were some glaringly obvious gaps in the spectrum of musical talent. The new wave of Leicester urban/hip-hop artists also failed to get a look in this year.

This aside, the representation of local and Midlands music talent was pretty good, as our coverage indicates. The stages brought together a rich diversity of music, from reggae to bangra, from jazz to electro, including both internationally celebrated artists with nationallly established acts, there was so much to choose from and we have tried to reflect this in our coverage of the event.

A family-friendly event, there was plenty to do for the tiny tots and younger children. From Punch and Judy through to face painting and story telling, it was all there for the families who brought their kiddies out for a day of music education. Very important this, they will grow up to love live music and particularly live festivals, we hope.

Showcase for local talent

High praise is due to Darren Nockles and the team at The Musician for putting on such a quality lineup on their stage. Over the years The Musician has played a vital role in giving stage time to some of the best new rising musical talent in our city, alongside some of the established acts that make Leicester the vibrant place it is for all things musical.

Due to the exhaustive commitment of the stage organisers, The Musician marquee opened long before the main stages did, over three days. Early bird festival goers bagged a selection of musical treats with their coffees, as some of the best singers and acts took to its stage to delight audiences with their fine musical offerings. Musician promoters have a knack of being able to spot the best talents from the range of genres that they cover.

Sets at the Musician Stage caught some of the highlights of the whole festival: gigs by Raghu Dixit, By the Rivers, Uncle Frank and Kenworthy stand out but, as our coverage reveals, there was a wealth of top class entertainment throughout the weekend.

Excitement with peace

Summing up the mood of the weekender, we would say it was a joyfully peaceful event. Coming in the same week as our local riots, it was the perfect balance that restored the karma of the city. A well organised event, with a reassuring level of security, fans of all ages spent an enjoyable and safe weekend, enjoying the excitement of the shows, in an atmosphere of calm and serenity. Everyone we spoke to said that they had enjoyed the weekend and that, whatever their personal tastes in music, their joys and disappointments with who was and who was not there, there was a general measure of agreement that it was a fine festival.

One interesting observation: we watched the performance of the Summer Sundae Festival Choir, where a group of people formed together on Friday, learned some songs and performed them on Sunday. Here at Artsin we have been picking up on the idea of participation in the arts. For the vast majority of festivals goers, the weekend was one of passive observation. One or two festivals we have been to this year have picked up on opportunities to participate in art forms.

We hope that this might catch on next year. Giving people opportunities to play instruments, form into flash bands, sing in groups and to spend some time with painters and comedians learning what's all about, seems to be a growing trend. Who knows, perhaps next year we might even see the emergence of an open-mic stage for all those wannabe singers that would love to show off what they can do at a major music event.

Next page: Friday

Other pages you might like

Get the information from the Summer Sundae web site

Check out the lineup for Friday, Saturday and Sunday