Festival set to be a family-friendly affair

4:28pm Wednesday 4th April 2007

Bradford-born tour manager Simon Foster is teaming up with former Beautiful South drummer Dave Stead to bring a major folk festival, featuring chart-toppers The Proclaimers, to Yorkshire this summer.

Simon Foster and Dave hope to attract more than 10,000 music fans to Song 07 in July.

The event will have an international flavour, attracting bands and musicians from around the world, from countries including Sweden, Northern Ireland, Virginia, Washington DC and Arizona.

Tickets for the two-day festival in Huddersfield, also featuring Badly Drawn Boy, renowned folk musician Seth Lakeman and folk rockers the Levellers and former Squeeze frontman Chris Difford went on sale last weekend.

Simon, who has worked with Inspiral Carpets, Joe Strummer, the Spice Girls and the Beautiful South, says: "We want to do something worthwhile for the area.

"We are aiming to create a wonderful festival, open to people of all ages, religions, colours and creeds.

"The Song07 festival is aimed at people aged 25 to 55, couples and families who want to see some of the finest singer-songwriting musicians at a safe, people-friendly festival.

"We have lots of little pop festivals in Yorkshire but there are no serious, quality music festivals for an older audience to enjoy.

"We think there is a need for it."

The Song Club festival was started in Leicester in 2005 by musician Gaz Birtles who has been in the Beautiful South and Swinging Laurels, and its success led to the idea of a follow-up festival.

"The plan is to recreate the feel of the Cambridge Folk Festival, but with a more contemporary feel," says Simon. "We are aiming to make it more of a grassroots-level event than an indie rock festival.

"There will be three stages of music, camping, children's fun events, real ales, good food and hopefully sunshine. And it's all in the beautiful West Yorkshire hills above Huddersfield.

"This is our first year and we want to get it right so we can come back and do it in 2008, 2009 andyou get the picture."

Bradford's unsigned bands are also being given the chance to star alongside top acts at the festival, on July 28 and 29.

Simon wants anyone interested to send him and Dave their demo tapes.

"There are plenty of indie-rock festivals around the country but there is nowhere in the whole of Yorkshire to put on local up-and-coming talent alongside performers like Badly Drawn Boy and The Proclaimers," says Huddersfield-born Dave.

"We want to be able to promote young artists from our area alongside these great song-writers."

The festival will be held on a grass site in the village of Honley, just outside Huddersfield, and is expected to draw more than 5,000 day-trippers and campers on each day.

The Proclaimers, who are currently at Number 1 with a Comic Relief re-working of their hit (I'm Gonna Be) 500 miles, featuring Peter Kay as Brian Potter and Matt Lucas as Andy Pipkin, and Badly Drawn Boy will headline the festival on the Saturday and the Levellers will top the bill on the Sunday.

Female folk four-piece Waking the Witch, which has members from Pudsey, Keighley and Harrogate, are also performing.

Also announced for the line-up so far are: Cara Dillon, Paul Brady, Duke Special, Calexico, Nizlopi, Thea Gilmore, the Holmes Brothers, 3 Daft Monkeys, Rory McLeod, Congo Faith Healers, Robert Bray, Paul Burch, Nick Harper, 6 Day Riot, Eleanor McEvoy, Peter and the Wolf, Old Man Pie, Christina Kulukundis, Tez Sheals-Barrett, Lee Broderick, Thea Gilmore, Tobias Froberg, Ben's Brother, Aidan Smith, Vijay Kishore, Martin Stephenson, Sara Spade, Unkle Frank, Jay Lynsay, The Deportees, Club O, Ambrose Tompkins, Fatal Star.

Song 07 runs from July 28-29. Tickets cost £80 for the weekend or £45 for a day pass. Demo tapes from bands keen to play at the festival should be sent, marked Song 07 demo, to Simon Foster, 24 Gilead Road, Longwood, Huddersfield, HD3 4XH. For more details about the festival ring 0870 151 4444.

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