Latest news with #FestivalToo
BBC News
02-07-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
King's Lynn Festival Too has busiest opening weekend
The organiser of a free festival has credited good weather and a strong line up for the large crowds attending the event's first weekend. Festival Too, which runs until 21 July, has been held in King's Lynn, Norfolk, for the past 40 event costs about £250,000 to put on and is paid for by business sponsorship, a council grant and a year-round fundraising effort, its organisers said. Abbie Panks, one of the festival's directors, said: "It was by far and away our busiest opening weekend ever." "I think actually it was the sweet spot of having a Taylor Swift and a Oasis tribute band because they're two acts that are very current at the moment, very well loved and obviously we also have our annual fireworks," she added. King's Lynn based indie group Modern Haze said it was "blown away" by the crowd when it performed at the festival. Writing on Facebook the band said: "We've been dreaming of getting on that stage since we formed the band and it was our largest hometown show to date!"Headlining this year's event are indie band Ash and singer Ella are also street performances and stage slots for local acts and school bands. Festival Too welcomes about 60,000 people for the three weekends it runs, its organisers said. "I think this year's line-up is a celebration of our 40 years. So it's those four decades of types and genres of music," Ms Panks said. "We do have a strong audience base of 40 to 50-year-olds, but it doesn't matter really what your age is or what your musical style is."People are just up for coming out and having a dance," she added. Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
03-06-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Festival Too in King's Lynn reflects '40 years of musical styles'
The organisers of a festival say the line-up this year will reflect "40 years of musical styles". Festival Too has been running in King's Lynn, Norfolk, since 1985 and this year will feature acts ranging from Eighties favourites Tony Hadley and Sonia - to contemporary star Ella Henderson. The free event was started by a group of business people who got together to put on a music event in the town to run alongside the King's Lynn Festival. Abbie Panks, from the festival, said: "We are really pleased to be able to come back for our 40th year, I think the line-up is a great reflection of 40 years of musical styles... I like to think we've got everything covered." Festival Too starts on 28 and 29 June at the King's Staithe Square and runs each weekend until Saturday 12 July at the Tuesday Market Place. Opening the festival will be tribute acts Taylored Swift and on the final day will be King's Lynn singer Adam Tucker - the singing voice in Robbie Williams' biopic Better Man - Jo O'Meara from S Club Seven and Ella evening will begin with a school band or group, then local bands will perform as warm up acts for well-known Panks added: "It's great to be able to give those opportunities and that's really important to us." In its first year, the budget to put the event on was about £5,000. With the support of fundraising and donations from the council and local businesses, the budget has grown to £130, Panks said the event was believed to be Europe's biggest outdoor free festival. "It's access to music with no economic barriers, that's the great thing about it, anybody can come, you don't need any tickets, you just turn up and we get fantastic audiences," she festival has continued to run with the help of community volunteers and has become a defining event in the town's cultural calendar. In previous years, the festival has seen acts including Feeder, Sigala, Example, Reef, The Vamps, Busted, KT Tunstall and Gabrielle take to the stage. Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
