03/09/13 That was Towersey Festival 2013!
VERY happy that over 7,000 people flocked to Towersey Festival over the August Bank Holiday weekend, the organisers are already planning the festival’s Golden Jubilee next year, 2014. Great weather on Bank Holiday Monday brought large crowds of day-trippers to The Showground, prompting the opening of an overflow car park and, by the afternoon, a seriously depleted main bar as 30 real ales dropped to half-a-dozen.
“We had one of the best Showground days for four or five years,” reported Festival Director Joe Heap. “And we’d made the Showground bigger by thirty per cent – increasing the food court and bar, and introducing a new music stage and local produce fair (in conjunction with the Thame Food Festival).”
Discussing the entertainment on offer, Joe said: “We had more bands than ever this year and more stages than ever too, including the new Bar Stage in the Showground. That was a roaring success and one of the comments I’ve repeatedly heard is that we’ve introduced lots of people to lots of great new music.”
The packed programme, featuring over 200 acts, stormed off the starting blocks on Thursday night (Aug 22) with a ‘stonking’ performance from The Blockheads. Their set included a rocking rendition of ‘Sweet Jean Vincent’, dedicated to Wilko Johnson, who was recently diagnosed with terminal cancer but is nevertheless, determined to do a tour of farewell gigs later in the year and make a new album.
Dedicated to including more local contributions this year, the programme for what was the 49th annual event, included sets from Thame’s First Thursday Music Club favourites, 2am Blue, Emma Davidmann, and contributions from Tom Banks and Paul ‘Shez’ Sherreard. Students of Dance from Lord Williams’s school, also performed on the Monday, as did the Haddenham Hoofers.
The festival was wound up on the Monday night (Aug 26) with two shows from Bellowhead’s Spiers and Boden, and a spectacular lantern procession through the village of Towersey. In between therewere notable appearances from The Unthanks, who played to a packed Big Tent, while the jazz-flavoured Orkestra del Sol had audiences on their feet at Venue 65 (Aug 23), and an enthusiastically welcomed Show Of Hands (Aug 24).
Swiss Cajun punk trio, Mama Rosin (Aug 25), were nearly forced to cancel their headline slot after a personal emergency prevented accordionist Cyril Yeterian from flying to the UK. But the show went ahead thanks to band fan John Spiers (of Spiers and Boden fame), who learned their entire set in just a few short hours, delivering a seamless performance!
Among the acts appearing on the Bar Stage were Oxford’s Original Rabbit Foot Spasm Band (who appeared at Thame’s Music in The Park last year), and The August List.
Next year will see Towersey celebrate half-a-century – making it the longest running festival of its kind in the UK.
“We’ve been talking to lots of people about projects for next year, and there’s already a real buzz,” said Joe. “People are very excited, and we’re confident that our Golden Jubilee will be a sell-out.”
Early Bird Tickets for the 50th anniversary Towersey Festival, which runs from Thursday, August 21 to Monday, August 25, 2014, are on sale now via the festival website: www.towerseyfestival.com
Joe warned: “We have held this year’s Early Bird rate for these early sales, so get in fast!”
PHOTO: The Haddenham Hoofers entertain the crowds at Towersey Festival 2013
