Riverside Festival

RIVERSIDE ROCKS ON!

Despite the torrential rain and a waterlogged Meadows, the Riverside Festival is going ahead on Saturday 7th July. An extraordinary meeting of the Cemetery & Allotments committee took place at 8.30 Thursday 5th July and the go ahead was given.

Martin Smith of Riverside Association of Music & Arts said ‘We would like to thank Christine Brough and the Town Council for giving the go ahead for the festival. This event is so important for the community of the town and it would have been devastating to cancel it. We are committed to causing the minimum damage possible to the Meadows and we have entirely restructured the festival to fit around affected areas. Some critical parts of the Meadows will be fenced off completely. The Marquee Stage will now be situated on the triangle of land towards the Town Bridge, while the Boomerang Acoustic Stage will be situated just to the right of the main entrance from Bath Row. The Beer Festival has moved to the South side of the site.’

‘We ask that festival goers be as considerate as possible to the site and particularly request that all litter is placed in the litter bins provided. It will be extremely difficult for us to clear litter out of muddy areas after the event.’

One good thing is that the day itself looks set to be fairly sunny with temperatures around 20-21 degrees.

There have been two changes to the line-up on the Riverside Stage. Kissmet have had to withdraw due to a sudden family bereavement. Bleeding Hearts will now be headlining the event. Slipstream have also been forced to pull out. Replacing Slipstream at 15.45-16.20 is the fantastic ska-specialists Organize Chaos, a nine-piece ska-machine who delighted crowds at last year’s event. Moving into the Bleeding Heart’s original slot at 20.20-21.05 is Peterborough’s The Gangsters, a seven-piece reggae/ska act who will be playing Riverside having just completed a gig at the Embankment for the Peterborough Festival.

Martin says “I would like to thank The Gangsters and Organize Chaos for stepping in at the last minute to play Riverside. Big thanks also to Ted Taylor and all our contractors who are working extremely hard to try and overcome the difficulties with the site’.

Please remember to support Riverside by buying your drink at Beer Festival where the profits go back into the event. No glass is allowed on site and beware of the fast-moving river and deep water around the area.