Newark Festival offers a great value in a well organised festival

In the grand scheme of things Newark (Nottinghamshire) is not the city people think of when asked about the location of a great festival. Usually music fans will answer with Leeds, Reading, Glastonbury, and Donington. However , that might start to change if this years Newark Festival is anything to go by.

Newark Festival has been running for only a few years, still in its early years (this being the seventh time the event has been part of the music festival calendar) it could still be considered the baby of festivals. Hosted at the Riverside Park, it has a stunning 12^th century derelict castle as a backdrop for the 3-day festival.

On the Friday, attendees at to the festival were treated an evening of tribute bands including The Rollin’ Clones, The Ultimate Stone Roses, and Who’s Next, and Magic Queen to ensure the weekend kicks off with nostalgic rock vibe.

Saturday appeared to have a more nostalgic 80’s feel. With bands such as The Fizz (Bucks Fizz), Limahl, Go West, Nick Heyward, Kim Wilde, Hothouse Flowers and headliner Marti Pellow.

On Saturday, due to struggling to find a running order online (apparently there was one, but I couldn’t find it easily) we had missed The Fizz and arrived half way through Limahl’s set.

Limahl appeared to be in good spirits and seemed to be genuinely appreciative of his fans. He saved ‘The NeverEnding Story’ and ‘Too Shy’ for the end of his set. Sadly, time has taken its toll on Limahl’s vocal range and so some of the higher notes were either left to his backing vocalist or just left out completely (discreetly camouflaged by letting the audience sing the higher notes). Regardless, he had entertained the crowd and created a brilliant party atmosphere amongst the crowd.

Go West continued with the party type atmosphere, keeping the audience singing along with their hits from yesteryear. Classics such as ‘King of Wishful Thinking’ and ‘We Close Our Eyes’ sent the crowd into one big sea of swaying hands.

Nick Heyward brought his infectious melodies to the event and even after all these years his voice is still able to sound as great as it was back in the eighties.

Kim Wilde then shifted the gear up a notch with her energetic, singalong, bounce along 80s hits. Once again, another brilliant trip down memory lane, and it goes without saying that Kim would not have been able to walk off stage without including ‘Kids in America’. Despite Kim Wilde not being in the spotlight has much as she once was. She still knows how to keep an audience wanting more. Throughout the entire set she had the fans eating out of the palm of her hand. A slick masterclass in how to perform live.

Hothouse Flowers brought their brand of Irish Rock to the Newark Festival and managed to captivate the adoring fans. Their version of ‘I Can See Clearly Now’ created a beautiful sing along with the impressive sized audience. Hothouse Flowers had managed to create a more relaxed atmosphere amongst the fans who were now awaiting the arrival of the headline act- Marti Pellow.

Marti Pellow arrived on stage to a volcanic roar of approval form the waiting fans.

Opening with ‘Lip Service’ and then ploughing through an incredible set, albeit around 80 minutes. In that time, he had treated the fans to classics such as ‘Goodnight Girl’ with the obligatory audience participation of couples kissing, hugging, crying and singing along.

The setlist mainly consisted of Wet Wet Wet classics, admittedly he had altered the music slightly to ‘Sweet Little Mystery’, but basically this was an evening of Marti Pellow doing Wet Wet Wet songs without the band.

Regardless, it was an absolute pleasure to hear Mr Pellow belt through their back catalogue. ‘With a Little Help from My Friends’, was an unexpected highlight as Mr Pellow’s vocals were so glorious that it made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck from the moment he sang ‘What would you think if I sang out of tune?’. Just to hear such a magical live version of this would be worth the ticket price alone.

‘Love is All Around’ brought the evening to a close leaving many fans with big Cheshire grins on their faces.

Sunday was more relaxed day with the free Family Fun Day with a ‘Swing in the Park’ evening concert and fireworks finale.

The artistes are the main attraction to any event. However, the Newark Festival organisers appear to have attempted to look at the bigger picture and ensure the whole event is of a high standard to make it enjoyable for everyone including families.

Things such as well-maintained toilets (probably the cleanest toilets I have seen at a festival), friendly staff (even security) and a venue that is easily accessible to the point they even organised a late train to cater for people travelling to and from the event. Car parks nearby and reasonably priced. Food and drink stalls are cheap enough that you won’t have to remortgage your house to buy a burger.

This appears to be one of a select few festivals that focus on ensuring the fans get a brilliant festival experience without feeling like they are being milked for every single penny.

In short, great bands, great atmosphere, great festival, great value. What more could a music fan want? Roll on Newark Festival 2019. (which will be held on 14^th to 16^th June 2019).

 

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