Willow Free Festival returns to Peterborough in 2012

Once the region's largest rock and pop extravaganza, held for six years between 1998 and 2003, the FREE The Willow Festival set within the surroundings of the Embankment of the River Nene in Peterborough makes a return in 2012.

The original organisers of the festival will bring the family friendly event back during the final weekend of May next year from Friday 25th until Sunday 27th May.

By 2003 the festival grew to become one of the largest free live music festivals in Europe and the biggest music festival in the city's history. In its final year, the event featured 120 acts playing across three days and attracted 53,000 people. Previous headliners included Bad Manners and The Animals.

The 2012 festival will showcase across six stages 120 live bands from across the UK, with a particular emphasis on showcasing local acts. No acts are confirmed yet for Willow.

The festival itself will remain the same scale and format as in previous years, but with further attractions on the site including an extreme fairground, an alternative shopping village, bars, festival performers, creative artists, and more.

Mark Ringer who came up with the idea of The Willow Festival and will once again be in charge of the event in 2012, told Peterborough Today, (here), "I've been aware of several local campaigns to bring back The Willow Festival and I've never ruled it out. I've now got great backing from Peterborough City Council and I'm confident that 2012 will be the biggest festival yet."

For more information, see the Willow Festival website.

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