Sutton With Shopland Festival - dedicated to fun, frolics and festival safety - have your say

Here's a really great little festival that's truly dedicated to festival safety and out there supporting it positively and visibly.

In 2004 a little part of the Sutton Hall farm estate on the outskirts of Rochford became an oasis for new talent, arts and family fun. So successful was this little festival that it has become an annual feature in the area taking place each year in early July. The festival combines two full days of music, film, art, and multi media - with a lot of fun stuff to keep the kids amused.

This festival is run by local volunteers who have an amazing dedication to local and social issues - last year the festival was fortunate enough to have the use of films and footage from Fair Trade, Amnesty International and Greenpeace, who in turn used the Festivals' multi media space to premiere new films (with a social conscience) from around the globe.

This small group of dedicated people from the Friends of Sutton, had, as its original and consistent aim and ethos the desire and intent to support a number of local charities, and it has done this with a great deal of success.

The festival has, due to its unexpected popularity, grown beyond expectations and now has found itself THE place to be in that first weekend in July - not only for Rochford residents but also for people in the south of Essex - and now the word is spreading even further afield.

So just what does this small festival have to offer

Sean Mcloughlin - promoter for the festival has talked about his aspirations for the 2007 festival.

"This years festival aims to be bigger and better with more stuff for the kids to do and family spaces to spend quality time, in a safe, fun and learning environment. For the music lovers, this year aims to have two evenings of music- Friday evening will ease everyone into the festival spirit mixing cover bands and chilled out funk and jazz artists. The Saturday will host the likes of Faithless musicians - Dave Randall and Sudha in their band Slovo, who come back to the festival for a second time as well as the usual family events with more spaces to relax as well as an outside cinema that is planned to host media workshops throughout the day."

The festivals' ethos is to create an atmosphere that caters for all ages, a children's field hosting storytelling, face painting, musical workshops and world dance joins hand in hand with a musical feast over four stages housed in the farms barns as well a dedicated space to show new films from the USA and Europe, Comedy and Spoken Word and multimedia experiences.

And don't run away with the idea that this festival - because it is small and run by a dedicated team of volunteers - will only bring you little known entertainers. Last year this festival bagged the talent of jazz legends Cleo Laine and Jon Dankworth, Glenn Tilbrook from Squeeze as well as Neville Staple from The Specials, but Sutton With Shopland also gave a platform to up and coming musical acts like The Noisettes who went on to support Muse on their recent arena tour. The festival also gave young school and college bands the opportunity of performing on the same line up as some of their heroes. This is a festival of inclusion and the layout of the festival site means that as well as visiting on either day there is also camping for those who don't want to miss a thing. The late night cinema, and chill out room gives campers the opportunity to carry on the festival atmosphere into the night and still be able to get up and have breakfast at one of the many food stalls.

Put the dates in you diary - 6th and 7th July 2007 the line up so far includes:

A | The James Taylor Quartet | Iain Baker | Pauline Taylor | Viarosa | Connan & The mockasins | Lupen Crook & The Murderbirds | Koopa | The Social | The Thirst | The Band Of Holy Joy | Society Of Imaginary Friends | Sleeping Years | Peter Brame | Phillious Williams | Tracksuit Awareness Campaign (DJ Set ) | Dave iO (Insignificant Others) (DJ Set)

Plus: Over 100 other live acts....

Sutton With Shopland Website
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Your Comments

	Well done to everyone involved in this festival - the little one with a very big heart! Medusa [13th Jul 2007 08:46]

	What a wonderful atmosphere. A great family friendly festival. The organisation for the bands was excellent, made playing easy. Brilliant relaxed time!!! Cheers guys CopperBox E Manning [9th Jul 2007 22:03]

	We had a fantastic time at SWS, so a big thanks to everyone involved in putting it on. Now if only my ears could stop ringing after "A" ... derren [8th Jul 2007 11:11]