Yay! You read it right. After a two year break, CrownFest is back at the Crown in Bishop’s Cannings. So put a big tick onto the 4th July 2026 in your diary, and maybe jot down 1st November this year down too, because that’s when the first set of fifty early-bird tickets will go on sale, a snip at just twenty quid….
With an iffy weather forecast for July, one Saturday in 2023 I found myself waiting for bus 49 in Devizes, and met with a group of kindly but disorientated folk attempting to get to Bishop’s Cannings for the second Crownfest. I assured them I was heading there too, so all they needed to do was follow my lead.
As it was you couldn’t miss it; the bus stopped right outside. On the journey a number of people were wondering which stop to get off at and so I assured them too. It was at that point I addressed the entire bus, as everyone looked up for a party, “is anyone here not going to Crownfest?!” Seemed only the driver wasn’t, and probably would have if he wasn’t working!
That poor bus driver would’ve loved it, as it was a far better attendance than the inaugural one the previous year. Even torrential downpours didn’t stop the fun, as its fully deserved outstanding reputation had blossomed. It was a fantastic event, check my words on it HERE. Unfortunately due to a change of ownership Crownfest wouldn’t see its way to a third this sumner. But every cloud, literally, has a silver lining. Crownfest is back and recharging for 2026; Bishops Cannings has never had it so good!
Save the date and Stone Circle Music Events will save the day. With camping available, this is a golden nugget on this summer’s local festival hotlist. The only returning act will be Kinisha, the Tina Turner tribute act called (and undoubtedly is true) Simply The Best. Kinisha turned my head around about Tina Turner tributes; we don’t need another hero if we’ve got her headlining, oh, but we have…. lots of heroes.
Firstly, while we’re on tributes, this one is my recommendation; someone listens to me! It’s Ant Trouble, the Welsh Adam & The Ants tribute which I’ve been dying to get a gig locally since I witnessed their lively and precise volcanic eruption at Swindon’s Vic in February 2023. This is so good when some Facebook wombles prompted AI to write a piece on the real Adam Ant, it nicked my photo of Ant Trouble! I dunno, who do I sue for that, The Terminator?! Nevertheless, prepare for some ant music.
The remaining lineup consists of only the toppermost acts on Stone Circle’s books. If I say indie-pop darlings Talk in Code will be there, that’s surely enough to entice you. But there’s pioneers of ukular fusion with Mother Ukers Ukuele Band, The Tipsy Gypsies will enthrall with lively folk goodness, and it’ll get all Celtic when the sublime Publicans get on that stage. Five-piece Salisbury rock band Innovator will be there, alongside acoustic goodness from George Wilding and Lucas Hardy.
Fantastic lineup, wonderful pub with great tucker, camping, or with that trusty 49 bus running later now, you could potentially bus it there and back, provided the bus driver isn’t Tina Turner’s number one fan, feels an uncontrollable compulsion to dance like there’s no tomorrow, and shouts “end of the line!” What more do you want?!
devizine.com 