Tag: frome festival

Florence & The Machine Harpist Among Musicians at Frome Festivalโ€™s Fundraising Launch

Featured Image: Lillie Eiger

Frome Festival is launching itsย โ€˜25 for 25โ€™ย fundraising campaign with a very special concert featuring three locally based acts:ย Tom Mothย โ€“ best known as the harpist for multi-platinum-selling bandย Florence + The Machineย โ€“ alt-folk duoย mฤsa, and brand-new soul/funk collectiveย The Juice.…

The event, taking place at The Tunnels on Saturday 29th November, kicks off Frome Festivalโ€™s ambitious campaign that aims to raise ยฃ25,000 before the start of next yearโ€™s festival in July. Founded in 2001, Frome Festivalโ€™s silver anniversary offers an opportunity to celebrate 25 years of creativity while securing the future of this much-loved community arts event for the next generation.

Followingย Tom Mothโ€™sย sold-out Festival performance at Rook Lane Chapel this summer, theย โ€˜25 for 25โ€™ย fundraiser provides an additional chance to hear his own original work. Tom explains, โ€œI enjoy crafting sounds using various acoustic and electronic devices, so whilst the harp will be involved, the performance wonโ€™t strictly be a harp recital!โ€

Tom is a big supporter of Frome Festival and is carving out some time between a busy international promotional schedule for Florenceโ€™s newly released album,ย Everybody Scream, and their upcoming European/US tour, which starts in February. The lauded harpist moved to Frome a couple of years ago as he felt it was somewhere he could exist happily. He says of the town, โ€œI love that thereโ€™s such a welcoming and proactive creative community. It seems like thereโ€™s always something happening, whether itโ€™s a gig, an exhibition, or community-based activity.โ€

Sisters Faron and Merle ofย mฤsaย are returning from a hiatus to support this fundraiser, sharing their beautiful harmony based alt-folk compositions. Merle said, “Weโ€™ve lived in Frome for a few years now and really value its creative and independent spirit as a town. This aspect of it seems to be growing and getting even stronger as time passes.” ย mฤsa have played at Frome Festival several times over the years, including a headline slot at the Silk Mill, and have also collaborated on a sonic guided walk of the town, calledย We Are All Sonambulistsย – โ€œThis was a great way to learn about the townโ€™s history and feel inspired by its ghosts and stories”, explained Merle.

Faron added, “We were really pleased to be invited to play at this fundraiser, because itโ€™s so important to keep community driven events that support the arts going. Now more than ever we need creativity and connection to unite us, and keeping Frome Festival alive and kicking is one small way of doing so.”

As to their future plans, mฤsa have recently been recording and plan to release new songs next year.

Ending the night with party vibes is The Juice, a fresh five-piece soul outfit who made their debut with a secret set during Sofar Sounds at Frome Festival in July. Drawing their members from a collective of local musicians, they write tunes which draw on 70s soul, pop and funk, โ€œwith a sprinkling of Juicified coversโ€.  Members of The Juice have also featured in The Enrichments, Mighty One, Samuel Jack, Twin Falls and Littlemen.

Joe James, The Juice frontman, stated, “As a local band, supporting Frome Festival means a lot to us. We can’t wait to bring The Juice to our hometown and share our new musical project with the people who shaped us”. Bass player, Jack Opie, added, “The community spirit and artsย scene in Frome is a huge reason that it is such a wonderful place to live, and the Festival is obviously a critical part of this – it’s massively important to us all that the Festival keeps on going, and we’re all really excited to be playing our small part in helping its future.”

Sarah Swales, Frome Festival Manager, said, โ€œIโ€™m constantly amazed by the incredible talent we have here in Frome, and Iโ€™m thrilled that these performers are generously donating their time and remarkable skills to support the Festival. Each of the three acts brings a unique musical style, and all are outstanding in their own right.โ€ She added, โ€œWeโ€™re also hugely grateful to Baz, Josh, and everyone at The Tunnels for hosting the event. In the current climate, itโ€™s more important than ever to support our venues and keep live music thriving.โ€

Frome Festivalโ€™s โ€˜25 for 25โ€™ campaign will celebrate a quarter of a century of being at the heart of Fromeโ€™s creative community with special events throughout the year. All monies raised will support growing the organisation, developing an education strand and maintaining the rich programme of free and low-cost activities across Frome Festival.

Supporters can help by attending fundraising concerts and activities in the lead up to Frome Festival 2026, become a Friend of Frome Festival to receive priority Festival booking and exclusive year-round perks, or donate directly to the charity.

Adam Laughton, Festival Director, explained, โ€œIt is remarkable to see how Frome has embraced Frome Festival across the last 25 years โ€“ everyone I speak to has a story to tell about their favourite moments. Across the next year, we aim to capture that spirit and celebrate Fromeโ€™s deep love and support of the arts, looking back at a quarter of a century of amazing work and plotting a course for the next 25 years. Through a campaign like this, we are looking to ensure the next generation can continue to experience the unique benefits of accessible, local live arts.โ€

โ€˜Frome Festival Fundraiser with Tom Moth / mฤsa / The Juiceโ€™ย takes place on Saturday 29 November at The Tunnels, doors 7.30pm.

Advance tickets are ยฃ18 available through the Frome Festival website or ยฃ20 on the door.

More info can be found on:ย https://fromefestival.co.uk/25years/

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Rooks; New Single From M3G

Chippenham folk singer-songwriter, M3G (because she likes a backward โ€œEโ€) has a new single out tomorrow, Friday 19th December. Put your jingly bell cheesy tunesโ€ฆ

Burning the Midday Oil at The Muck

Highest season of goodwill praises must go to Chrissy Chapman today, who raised over ยฃ500 (at the last count) for His Grace Childrenโ€™s Centre inโ€ฆ

St John’s Choir Christmas Concert in Devizes

Join the St Johnโ€™s Choir and talented soloists for a heart-warming evening of festive favourites, carols, and candlelit Christmas atmosphere this Friday 12 th Decemberโ€ฆ

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Supergrass Headline Frome Festival to Support Local Community Action Group

Britpop icons Supergrass will headline Frome Festival as a fundraising event for grassroots community action group โ€˜People for Packsaddleโ€™ who are fighting to save a much-loved local green space from development…….

The Cheese and Grain made a last-minute announcement of the concert slated for Friday 11th July as part of the Festival, crashing their site with fans eager to find out more.

Toby Culff, spokesperson for โ€˜People for Packsaddleโ€™ explained, โ€œThe proceeds from this event are being donated to our local community action group, People for Packsaddle, to support us in our ongoing battle to protect the area known as Packsaddle Community Fields, in Frome, from development. Despite hundreds of objections and the planning application being refused by Somerset Council, the developers are taking it to an Appeal. For us to fight the Appeal and be represented by a full legal team comes with a significant financial cost.โ€

Culff continued, โ€œThe fields are a designated Asset of Community Value and a crucial, irreplaceable resource for local people and wildlife, and for Frome as a whole. By coming along to this gig, people will be supporting positive community action whilst also helping to protect the environment.โ€

The drummer of Supergrass, Danny Goffey, who lives in Frome, is a big supporter of this initiative and this offers the perfect opportunity to give something back to the community.

The indie rock legends are celebrating the 30th anniversary of their seminal chart-topping debut album โ€˜I Should Cocoโ€™ by playing it in full and then drawing from their endless greatest hits, proving they’re still at the top of their game. Bursting onto the scene in the mid-90s and channelling their iconic energy, Supergrass shot to fame with anthems like Alright, Caught by the Fuzz and Mansize Rooster. Three decades on, their live shows are as cool as ever, and fans can expect an unforgettable night from a band who helped define an era.

Support comes from Lumley, who describe themselves as โ€œlurking in the Indie pop bargain bin, Fromeโ€™s finest exponents of stealing all of your favourite hits and misses from the โ€˜90sโ€. Lead singer Micheal โ€˜Fordyโ€™ Ford, who is also a concert promoter, stated, โ€œFirst of all this show is for Frome and the ridiculous proposal to build at Packsaddle. We stand with our brothers and sisters of People for Packsaddle. Secondly, itโ€™s just awesome! Supergrass at Bath Moles in 1994 changed everything for me and I finally found MY band!โ€

In true Frome community spirit, the Town Crier, Martin Scott, will be acting as Master of Ceremonies at this one-night-only benefit. Attendees can expect some of his trademark humorous rhyming couplets. Scott shared on social media, โ€œWe are young, we run greenโ€ฆand weโ€™re running full speed towards a night of righteous revelry! Supported by the fabulous Lumley, it promises to be alright, alright, alright! So gather ye, good people of Frome โ€“ for common land, common good, and uncommon talent! Let the bell ring, the chords chime, and the wild ones ride again!โ€

People for Packsaddleโ€™s Toby Culff expressed, โ€œWe are enormously grateful to Supergrass, the Cheese and Grain, local band Lumley and Frome Festival for their support in ensuring this crucial fundraiser can go ahead, as well as to everyone who comes along and enjoys the gig and helps us achieve our goal of saving the fields from development. We wonโ€™t stand by and let developers ride roughshod over democratic, locally made decisions – this fundraising event is going to really help us achieve this aim!โ€

Frome Festival Director, Adam Laughton, explained, โ€œSupergrass headlining Frome Festival is further evidence of the cultural significance of this amazing town, continually punching well above its weight. Enormous thanks to the individuals who have made this happen, as well as Cheese & Grain and People for Packsaddle,โ€ adding, โ€œThis event is the cherry on top of a sensational 10 days of activity kicking off on Friday 4th July. Over 280 events in over 50 venues โ€“ thereโ€™s truly something for everyone.โ€

FROME FESTIVAL is taking place from 4th to 13th July 2025 with its most ambitious and wide-ranging programme to date. This much-loved annual celebration of arts, culture, and community continues to grow in scope and imagination, bringing together world-class performers, local talent, and a wealth of unique experiences across the town.

Additional musical highlights this year include performances from the Ronnie Scottโ€™s All Stars, acclaimed songwriter and producer Guy Chambers (most well-known for his work with Robbie Williams), Brodsky Quartet,  the Miki Berenyi Trio (formerly of Lush), Tom Moth (harpist with Florence + The Machine), Gary Stringer (Reef), Rokia Konรฉ (from Les Amazones d’Afrique), and the dynamic Hackney Colliery Band.

The comedy line-up features some of the UKโ€™s most distinctive voices, with headline sets from Lou Sanders, Andy Zaltzman, and the return of firm favourites Jarred Christmasโ€™ Pop-Up Comedy. Lou Sanders, Andy Zaltzman, and the return of firm favourites Jarred Christmasโ€™ Pop-Up Comedy.

This yearโ€™s Bob Morris Lecture will be presented by historian, author and broadcaster Professor Kate Williams, offering fresh insight into a thousand years of Britainโ€™s palaces, monarchs – and all the royal secrets.

The family-friendly programme includes free events for children, funded by Frome Town Council. Festival-goers can also enjoy the return of cherished community events such as the Hidden Gardens, the Frome Open Art Trail, and the Food Feast, featuring live music from up-and-coming indie rock band Nothing Rhymes With Orange, bluegrass with percussive step dance from Buffalo Gals, and soul collective Kaleida Wild. Entrance to the Food Feast on Saturday 5th July is free.

The theme for 2025, Fromeโ€™s historic textile industry, is woven through the festivalโ€™s branding, artwork, and a variety of textile-inspired events that pay tribute to the townโ€™s rich industrial heritage. These range from the traditional, for example weaving and woad dyeing workshops, to the contemporary, such as a themed AR (Augmented Reality) history quest and a silent disco comedy walk. The yarn bombing competition โ€˜Make Frome Knit Again!โ€™ seeks to decorate the public spaces of Frome for the duration of the Festival.

A free printed festival brochure is available from the Cheese & Grain and other local outlets. The full programme and ticket information can also be found online at www.fromefestival.co.uk

https://www.cheeseandgrain.com/events/supergrass/

Alberta Cross Frontman Joins Line Up for Frome Festival Fundraising Gig

Alberta Cross, along with the up-and-coming local bands Something Moves and BroccoliBoy, will perform at a charity gig on Saturday 30th November at 23 Bath St. All part of a new generation of vibrant and talented musicians calling Frome home, they are helping raise funds to support the costs of running the annual Frome Festival in July…..

Swedish-born Alberta Cross frontman, Petter Ericson Stakee, will be playing an intimate solo set of his anthemic Americana-tinged songs, hot on the heels of his latest UK tour. Alberta Cross has toured extensively across the globe as a headline act and has supported bands such as Oasis, Mumford & Sons, Johnny Marr and Neil Young. They have also appeared in the USA as musical guests on The Late Show with David Letterman and their tracks have featured on hit TV shows Sons of Anarchy and Californication.

Something Moves, the latest project from Chris Briden and friends Matt Ball and Al McNamara, blends influences reminiscent of Radiohead and Nick Drake, resulting in layered, textural, and introspective music. As a primarily studio-based band, this offers a rare opportunity to catch them live. Chris has been a successful musician for many years, with distribution deals and festival slots. Raised in Dorset and spending most of his career in Manchester, Chris settled in Frome a few years ago, starting Something Moves as a solo lockdown recording project. Matt and Al then became part of the writing and creative process further developing the sound.

And BroccoliBoy are a young indie pop trio known for their heartfelt and infectious melodies. Frontman Ted met bassist Eli when they were both working at the Cheese & Grain Bar, whilst drummer Rob has known Ted since ACM music college in Guildford. They recently supported Entitled Sons on the main stage at the Cheese & Grain and are steadily gaining an enthusiastic following.

BroccoliBoyโ€™s bass player, Eli White, who was born and raised in Frome, shared, โ€œI have such fond memories of the Frome Festival from my childhood – The Food Feast especially. I have a very vivid memory of getting up on the stage, when it was held in the town centre, after all the music had finished and pretending I was in one of the bands!โ€ Eli continued, โ€œIโ€™m very thankful to have been brought up in Frome as it is genuinely an amazing place to live. The opportunities for creatives of all ages here to share, learn and grow are immense. The Frome Festival is one of the main reasons for this as it inspires so many people every year, without the Festival we would lose such a big platform to showcase all of the amazing talent we hold in this town so I believe itโ€™s very important to do everything we can to keep it running for many more years to come.โ€ 

Petter from Alberta Cross said of supporting this fundraiser, โ€œI love Frome Festival. It makes the town come alive! I also love the diversity of it with so many different cultural events and music gigs in the short time it runs. It is important for the town and will and should keep building.โ€ He added, โ€œI remember when we just moved here and the Festival was on, we walked through town quite late in the evening after dinner and heard flamenco guitar music coming from the Silk Mill so we stopped in and caught the end of the show and I just remember thinking how amazing that felt to have these kind of things happen in my new hometown.โ€ Petter travels extensively for his work but enjoys coming back to Frome, which he describes as โ€œa small cosy town with a lot to offer, located in one of the most beautiful parts of the world in my opinion.โ€ He recently recorded his new album โ€˜The Thief and The Heartbreaker (Re-imagined)โ€™ at Fromeโ€™s Bert Jansch Studio and it was mastered at Abbey Road Studios. It is a reworking of classic songs from Alberta Crossโ€™s critically acclaimed 2007 debut, including fresh collaborations with Ed Harcourt, Katie Melua, Band of Skulls, Jack Savoretti and others.

Ted Prendergast, who provides vocals, guitar and ukulele for BroccoliBoy, remarked, โ€œFrome Festival is a time to celebrate all things Frome and all the diversely creative and unique people we have living here. My parents took part in Hidden Gardens for the first time this year and loved it!โ€. He added that the band is supporting the fundraiser because โ€œwe believe in the importance of keeping these brilliant creative opportunities alive,โ€ emphasising, โ€œThere is a massive community spirit here and I havenโ€™t seen anything quite like it anywhere else!โ€ 

Chris Briden of Something Moves concurs, โ€œFestivals are a really important way to celebrate community and be part of your local area. Without them, life is just a little bit more grey. Frome is a fantastic place to be creative, and offers more than your average Somerset town, but you can’t take this kind of opportunity for granted, and we want to make sure we hold the door open for loads more artists and bands, writers and creatives who come after us.โ€ Chris noted, โ€œOpportunities like this are more important than ever with many live music venues and festivals closing downโ€.

The Festival team are hard at work preparing for next yearโ€™s programme, taking place on Friday 4th โ€“ Sunday 13th July 2025, with fundraising also playing an important role during the year. Frome Festival is a registered charity that must fundraise ยฃ35k per year to deliver the programme and with recent cuts to arts funding, organisers say the environment is increasingly difficult. Festival Manager Sarah Swales explained, โ€œWe are offering tickets at ยฃ10 to make them accessible to everyone, but we urge people to donate what they can. Another way to support us is by becoming a Festival Friend for ยฃ20 per year, which provides priority booking during the Festival and other perks.โ€

Organisers were keen to thank the performers for their help and urged people to buy their merch on the night. They were also very grateful to the venue 23 Bath St who will be shutting their doors for the last time after the New Year due to the difficult economic climate. “23 Bath St. has really championed live music over the years, and itโ€™s truly sad to see them go. Please support their venue and bar before they close, so they can go out on a high note!” Sarah added.

Festival Director, Adam Laughton concluded, โ€œThis promises to be a superb night that will raise much needed funds for Frome Festival. Weโ€™re very grateful for 23 Bath Street and all the musiciansโ€™ help in making this event possible. Come and enjoy this sensational line up and support our cause as we continue to plan for July 2025. Every penny makes a difference!โ€

Tickets are ยฃ10 from here: https://fromefestival.co.uk/product/fundraiser24/

All proceeds support Frome Festival Ltd. (Charity Number โ€“ 1120329)

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Frome Festival Presents a Bumper Programme for All

From the 5th to the 14th July 2024, Frome Festival plans to up the game of this wonderful and lively town with a bumper programme for allโ€ฆ..ย 

In over sixty-one venues across Frome and surrounding villages, Frome Festival is gearing up for its biggest ever programme, with 250 events taking place over 10 days. This yearโ€™s theme celebrates 60 years of Roald Dahlโ€™s โ€˜Charlie & the Chocolate Factoryโ€™, featuring artwork by illustrator Sholto Walker depicting Willy Wonka striding down the streets of Frome. To celebrate this theme, five Golden Tickets will be hidden at various Festival events with winners receiving a scrumdiddlyumptious spending spree at Fromeโ€™s local chocolatier and cafรฉ, Choc et al.

The community arts festival has been a popular fixture in the town since 2001 and aims to offer something for everyone, young and old, including different types of music, theatre, comedy, spoken word, art, dance, film, workshops, childrenโ€™s events, and food or drink experiences. Expect a dash of Fromeโ€™s signature quirkiness!

Children can enjoy bouldering workshops, comic art masterclasses, science exploration of pondlife, theatre productions, a Willy Wonka Rave, outdoor shows and so much more.

And Frome Festival is teaming up with the popular Frome Independent Market on Sunday 7th July, taking over their entertainment stages with music, street theatre, and dance.

Sir Willard White

Headliners for 2024 include internationally acclaimed bass-baritone, Sir Willard White, Jenny Eclair, Richard Herring, Paul Mason, Old Time Sailors, Swinging at the Cotton Club, Alberta Cross, Raghu Dixit, Peatbog Faeries. Alongside one of Fromeโ€™s favourite free events, the Festival Food Feast, returning for a celebration of amazing international street food, live music and entertainment. Sponsored by local Frome company Lilleyโ€™s Cider.

Other highlights include hilarious stand-up comic Jenny Eclair at the Merlin Theatre, the first woman to win the coveted Perrier Award at Edinburgh Festival in 1995 and hasnโ€™t stopped banging on about it since. Indiaโ€™s biggest cultural & musical export, Raghu Dixit is returning to the Cheese & Grain for the Frome Festival after his triumphant debut last year. 

Jenny Eclair

The spectacular Swinging at the Cotton Club is a visual and musical feast paying homage to legends such as Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, and Count Basie with breathtaking dance routines. In the atmospheric setting of Holy Trinity Church, renowned organ virtuoso David Bednall will provide an improvised soundtrack to the classic 1922 horror movie, Nosferatu.

Thereโ€™s raucous Old Time Sailors, former economics editor of Newsnight and Channel 4 and a regular Guardian contributor, Paul Mason presenting this yearโ€™s Bob Morris Lecture, a keynote speech that is an annual highlight of the Festival programme. Legendary stand-up comic Richard Herring presents his brand-new tour show where he talks bollocks about his recent experience with testicular cancer, at the Cheese & Grain, and Scottish trailblazers Peatbog Faeries also appear at the big Cheese, with a glorious mixture of traditional sounds and dance-floor grooves creating a hypnotic sound that no-one can resist dancing to.

Tickets go on sale from Sunday 19th May at 10am through www.fromefestival.co.ukย 

BROCHURES detailing all events are available to pick up from the Cheese & Grain, local libraries, information points and many other locations across Frome and the surrounding area. An online version of the brochure is available here.

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