With the schools out, and the summer well and truly under way, don’t let the recent spate of inclement weather dampen your spirits. There are so many family-friendly music festivals happening across Cornwall, with something on offer for everyone, no matter what your tastes.
Here are some of our favourites, to get you ready for festival season.
Kicking off with the “Rock Oyster Festival” situated on the edge of the Camel estuary, this weekender has a fantastic mix of music, food and culture, with bands including good friends of Phluid Records, ‘The Land of the Giants’, ‘Sophie Ellis-Bextor’ and ‘Groove Armada’. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Andi Oliver are amongst the array of chefs, cooking up a storm. When you want to chill out and wind down, you will find plenty of workshops promoting well-being and relaxation techniques.
August 8 to 13 sees Boardmasters world famous surf and music festival in Newquay, with ‘Ben Howard’, ‘Cypress Hill’ and ‘Liam Gallagher’, to name a few, providing a great weekend of music by night and surfing by day. One of the coolest weekends on the calendar for us down in Cornwall.
Closer to home, on August 19, Liskeard’s “Ploughman’s Festival” will be held on the cricket pitch on the edge of town. With food and beer available throughout the event, our friends ‘Black Friday’ will be head-lining an all day music bonanza. We will definitely be at this one, enjoying a beer or two and catching up with some of the great live acts.
August bank holiday weekend sees “Tunes in the Park”, at Port Eliot Estate. Wal, from the Wall of Paine show will be there on the Saturday to see ‘The Kooks’ head-lining a great line-up, and Kitty Crocker, featured artist on the same show, will be playing on the Friday, before ‘The Kaiser Chiefs’ headline. We don’t know many 17 year-olds who can add this accolade to their CV. We are hoping to get down to support Kitty on the Friday also.
Rounding up the season, “Little Orchard Cider & Music Festival’, now in its 10th year. At the amazing Healey’s Cider Farm, home to Cornish Rattler, and well worth a trip at any time of the year, this a great festival. With music from ‘Ocean Colour Scene’ and ‘Willie and the Bandits’, Little Orchard also hosts a BBC Introducing stage, so watch out for some Phluid Records ‘featured artists’ performing in the future.
If theatre is more your thing, check out what “Rogue Otherworld” theatre company have on this summer. Set in Tehidy woods, just outside of Camborne, Leo has explored much of what this exceptional Company have on offer. With this year being no exception. Open air performances of ‘Bandit’, running from August 9 until September 2, together with ‘Fortune’ running at the same time.
If you want to get involved and perform with Local theatre Company “Sterts”, they are holding auditions for their upcoming winter performance of Disney’s ‘Frozen’ on July 23 between 10am and 4pm. If you are between seven and 18 years old and fancy a part in the play email [email protected] Performances will be on Novermver 10, 11, 17 and 18 at Liskeard Public Hall.
For other performances running through the summer holidays search Sterts and see what they have on offer.
Phluid Records provide a monthly ‘cut-out-and-keep’ gig guide at the start of every month in The Cornish Times, and the pubs and clubs across the area will also be rammed full of fantastic local talent, many of whom have featured on Phluid FM within our first year of broadcasting. But don’t just take our word for it...Get out there and grab yourselves a piece of the action. If you are an independent artist, musician, or play in a band we would love hear from you. Search Phluid Records and drop us a line on any of our platforms. In the meantime check out any number of our band and artist interviews, and past ‘Featured Artist’ columns on The Cornish Times website, and join Leo and Neil next Thursday between 7-9 pm as poet, author, artist and performer Joolz Denby drops back into the Wall of Paine show to fill us in on what’s been happening.