Music fans already booking tent spots for Bingley Music Live (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Festival organisers hopeful for better year as 30 keen revellers reserve camping site

8:00am Saturday 23rd February 2013 in News By Julie Tickner, T&A Reporter

It might be six months away, but revellers are already getting organised to bag themselves a decent camping spot for Bingley Music Live 2013.

About 30 keen campers have already contacted Keighley Cougars Rugby League Club which allows tents to be pitched on the ground for the three-day event, as well as running a shuttle bus service to the Myrtle Park.

And Bradford and Bingley Sports Club’s event organiser Glen Shaw said people were booking pitches early this year. Already 29 people have booked, compared to last year when reservations started being made in July.

The club in Wagon Lane, Bingley, which has 27 acres of land, can take 2,000 tents and puts live music on in the club house each night after the festival closes.

“It’s a fantastic atmosphere. We’ve not had any trouble. It’s been a really good atmosphere and really good for the club,” Mr Shaw said.

The Cougars site was used for festival camping for the first time last year when club chairman Gary Fawcett said they tested the water and had about 30 campers.

The ground, in Royd Ings Avenue, Keighley, can take up to 500 though and Mr Fawcett hopes it will be full during the 2013 festival which runs from Friday, August 30 until Sunday, September 1.

Mr Fawcett said: “It was a bit of a trial last year, we thought ‘let’s see how it goes’. We were late with it though, we got on the Bingley Live website with about three weeks to go.”

The Bradford Council-run festival is in its seventh year and 1,000 early bird weekend tickets have already sold out, though the line-up, which is promised to be “genre spanning”, has yet to be announced.

The Charlatans, Razorlight and Nero headlined at last year’s event which was shortlisted in the best medium-sized festival category in the UK Festival Awards 2012.

Tickets for the festival, which cost £45 plus booking fee, are available at bingleymusiclive.com.

Last year’s event resulted in a £62,000 overspend blamed on low sales caused by a wet summer, the economy and the Olympics.

It seems festival-goers after a bit more luxury have yet to start making plans though. The Mercure Bradford, Bankfield Hotel, Bingley, said it has no-one booked in for the weekend yet.

l The Bradford and Bingley Sports Club is looking for volunteers to help at the campsite. Contact it through beescamping.co.uk.