The organisers of all-day music extravaganza My Dad’s Bigger Than Your Dad Festival have revealed the first acts on the line up for their fourth outing which is to be held at The Old Town Bowl, Swindon on Saturday 20th July 2024….
First to be announced is the return of local legend Gaz Brookfield, along with his band The Company of Thieves.
Gaz is shortly about to embark on ‘The Almost all Village Halls’ tour, after allowing himself a quick breather following a successful run of dates promoting his most recent album, Morning Walking Club.
The album, Gaz’s ninth, was released in August 2023 and was this week named 37th Best Selling Album of 2023 after going straight in at #1 in the Official UK Folk Album Charts, #3 in the Official UK
Indie Breaker Charts, #6 in the Official UK Download Charts, #10 in the Official UK Indie Album Charts, and even #37 in the Official UK Album Sales Charts.
Co-organiser Ed Dyer said: “It’s our absolute pleasure to be welcoming Gaz and the band back to The Bowl, especially after his recent success, and pleased he’s been able to squeeze us in around his busy touring schedule.”
In its first three years My Dad’s Bigger Than Your Dad Festival has raised over £32,000 for Prospect Hospice in tribute to Dave Young, the former landlord of The Victoria and 12 Bar who died in early June 2021 at Prospect Hospice after a hard-fought battle against cancer.
Dave’s last band, Calne’s legendary punk covers outfit, The Chaos Brothers, are also joining Gaz on the day, along with the Swindon based bluesy THUD, whose debut performance was at MDBTYD 2021.
Ed added “This is only the start of things to come for MDBTYD 2024. We can’t wait to show everyone who else we have in the pipeline!”
MDBTYD Festival will again see plenty of activities for all the family, including the return of the popular indie market, as well as food and drink from a variety of locally based vendors. Prospect Hospice, based in Wroughton, provides palliative and end of life care for people across the region and has to raise the majority of its costs through fundraising.
For information about Gaz Brookfield’s upcoming ‘The Almost all Village Halls’ tour, visit gazbrookfield.com or check out his social media pages.
This week the organiser proudly presented a cheque for a whopping £9537.75 to Prospect Hospice staff. The third year of My Dad’s Bigger Than Your Dad Festival, organised in association with South Swindon Parish Council, was held at The Old Town Bowl on Saturday 22 July with around 800 people braving the rain throughout the day…..
Some of the best acts of the local music scene came together to support the event, including Kova Me Badd, Imperial Leisure and The Real Cheesemakers, to raise much needed funds for Prospect Hospice in tribute to Dave Young, the former landlord of The Victoria and 12 Bar who died in early June 2021 at the Hospice. The festival also collaborated with Swindon Paint Fest who hosted an area of creativity which included live painting from six fantastic local artists, with the resulting artworks to be auctioned off in the near future.
Festival co-organiser Gemma Denley-Doswell said “We are absolutely delighted with the amount raised which, despite the awful weather on the day, has surpassed last year’s total. We couldn’t have done this without the enthusiasm and support of South Swindon Parish Council, our fantastic sponsors, supporters and volunteers, the performers and traders, and, of course, everyone who braved the rain to enjoy the day. We love working with the team at Prospect Hospice and we’re aiming to raise an even bigger total for them next year!”
L-R, Jane Green (Prospect Matron), Anna Sprawson (Organiser), Ana Marques and Sanjay Badhan (Future Planning), Debbie Robson (Prospect@Home Lead), Gemma and Aaron Denley-Doswell (Organisers)
Prospect Hospice, based in Wroughton, provides palliative and end of life care for people across the region and has to raise the majority of its costs through fundraising. My Dad’s Bigger Than Your Dad Festival has raised over £32000 for Prospect Hospice in its first three years.
Sheryl Crouch Head of Income at the hospice said “On behalf of everyone at Prospect Hospice and all the patients and families that we care for, I would like to thank the brilliant My Dads Bigger Than Your Dad team for their wonderful ongoing support. Year three for this event has seen it grow and gain more and more local support. We were privileged to have cared for Dave Young, who the event is in memory of, and remain privileged to be the beneficiaries of this fantastic event, our thanks go to everyone involved in organising it. As a charity that needs to source over 76% of our running costs, donations such as this one make a significant difference in enabling us to continue supporting our patients and their families and provide care tailored to their needs free of charge.”
The organisers were joined at the cheque presentation by Sanjay Badhan and Ana Marques from Old Town’s Future Planning, who were headline sponsors of the festival for the second year running. Sanjay said “Prospect Hospice provides truly outstanding services and it’s a privilege to help raise money for such a worthy cause.”
Sponsors of MDBTYD Festival 2023 also included Anytime Fitness, Imagine Cruising, Leightons Opticians, and Lewis Farrant Floor Layer. Part of the fee paid to South Swindon Parish Council to use the venue has been put aside to help raise money for the upkeep of the Old Town Bowl. The organisers of the festival are now planning for MDBTYD 2024, with the date set for Saturday 20th July 2024 and several music acts already confirmed to perform. For further updates follow My Dad’s Bigger Than Your Dad Festival on social media.
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The team behind Swindon’s popular all-day music extravaganza, My Dad’s Bigger Than Your Dad Festival, have revealed that nearly £9,000 has been raised for Prospect Hospice following this year’s event…..
MDBTYD 2023, organised in association with South Swindon Parish Council, was held at The Old Town Bowl on Saturday 2nd July with around 800 people braving the rain throughout the day. This was the third year of the festival, which was organised to raise much needed funds for Prospect Hospice in tribute to Dave Young, the former landlord of The Victoria and 12 Bar who died in early June 2021 at the hospice after a hard-fought battle against cancer.
Prospect Hospice, based in Wroughton, provides palliative and end of life care for people across the region and has to raise the majority of its costs through fundraising. Sheryl Crouch, Head of Income at the hospice said: “My Dad’s Bigger Than Your Dad is a real celebration of our community and an event that Prospect Hospice is proud to be a part of.The story of local music promoter Dave Young and the support he and his family received from the hospice is reflected in this event through its energy, varied line up of bands and array of entertainment throughout the day, all supported by many local sponsors and volunteers. The event is a true community collaboration, much like the hospice.”
“The event has raised an amazing £30,000 so far and this will be used by the hospice to ensure other local people like Dave can benefit from outstanding care at the end of their lives. We want to thank everyone involved in making the day happen, and all those who attend, for their ongoing support and ensuring we can be there to support further families that need us.”
“The date is already set for next year and we can’t wait to be part of it.”
My Dad’s Bigger Than Your Dad Festival 2023, which had the support of Future Planning as its headline sponsor for the second year running, took place over two stages with 16 acts performing on the Old Town Bandstand acoustic stage and the main stage in the Old Town Bowl.
Some of the best acts of the local music scene came together to support the event, including Kova Me Badd, Imperial Leisure and The Real Cheesemakers. The festival also collaborated with Swindon Paint Fest who hosted an area of creativity which included live painting from six fantastic local artists, with the resulting artworks to be auctioned off in the near future.
Co-organiser Ed Dyer said: “I’ve got to say that yet again we have been blown away by the support Swindon showed to our one-day festival. Sadly, the sunshine of the previous years evaded us but the atmosphere was still terrific with people dancing in the rain and leaving with massive smiles on their faces. The precise figure is to be confirmed but we couldn’t be more pleased that we are going to be able to donate almost £9000 to Prospect.”
Sponsors of MDBTYD Festival 2023 also included Anytime Fitness, Imagine Cruising, Leightons Opticians, and Lewis Farrant Floor Layer. Part of the fee paid to South Swindon Parish Council to use the venue has been put aside to help raise money for the upkeep of the Old Town Bowl.
After a well earned break, the organisers of the festival are now planning for MDBTYD 2024, with the date set for Saturday 20th July 2024. For further updates follow My Dad’s Bigger Than Your Dad Festival on social media. Early tickets for next year’s event are on sale via the website mydadsbiggerthanyourdad.co.uk
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If you fancy having a whole heap of fun while helping raise some funds for Prospect Hospice, who have provided end of life care to the people of Swindon and north east Wiltshire for over 40 years, you have two exciting festival options.…..
Firstly lands in your lap on Saturday 22nd July, when Swindon’s Old Town Gardens plays host to My Dad’s Bigger Than Your Dad Festival. Bit long-winded name for a festival, but it’s certainly original and stands out, provided the idea of primary playground sayings for festivals doesn’t trend on the back of it and we have The My Dad’s a Blackbelt in Karate Festival, or even worse, The Ooh Ah Lost my Bra in my Boyfriend’s Car Festival!
In its third year the festival is a tribute to Dave Young, the former landlord of The Victoria and 12 Bar who died in early June 2021 at Prospect Hospice after a hard-fought battle against cancer. The festival has raised over £24,000 for Prospect Hospice in its first two years.
Headline sponsor this year will be Future Planning, an independent financial planners and mortgage advisers based in Swindon. Acts include countywide favourite rockers, The Ukey Dukes, Kova Me Badd, The Vooz, and Splat the Rat, ska and reggae cover giants Train to Skaville, sonic indie darlings Atari Pilot, upcoming indie post punk favourites Viduals, The Pop-Punk Revolution Tour, crazy rappers Imperial Leisure, and in a comedy rock subgenre of their very own, we can never forget the Real Cheesemakers. Plus there’s acoustic goodness from Hip Route’s Jim Blair, Drew Byrant, Joel Rose, Meg, Jules Hill, Shedric.
If this isn’t enough for you, Swindon Paint Fest will be hosting an area of creativity with six fantastic local artists demonstrating their talents by live painting in the Sunken Garden. There will also be a guided spray paint and acrylic pen workshop led by Emma from Old Town’s Mams gallery where participants will be able to have a go with using the spray paint and acrylic pens onto a canvas board creating an artwork which they are able to take home.
Caryn Koh from Swindon Paint Fest said, “We at Swindon Paint Fest are excited to collaborate with My Dad’s Bigger Than Your Dad event which is a great initiative raising money for Swindon’s Prospect Hospice.”
Food and drink vendors, including Gurt Wings, have been brought in to keep revellers fed and watered, as well as an independent business market and a funfair area for children.
Adult tickets are a purple one, £20 from their website mydadsbiggerthanyourdad.co.uk . Paper tickets are also available from Holmes Music, The Tuppenny and The Castle Inn.
Second option is in September when, from Thursday 14th to Sunday 17th, Swindon’s Old Town comes alive with locally-sourced live music in a pub stroller type fashion with Swindon Shuffle. The lineups at five music venue boozers, The Victoria, The Hop Inn, The Beehive, The Tuppenny, and the Castle basically reads like a who’s who of local music, and it’s all free, provided you spare a little cash for Prospect Hospice buckets scattered around the venues. Fringe events are also to be found at Baristocats and the Prospect Hospice Books & Media shop.
“This year’s event is shaping up to be the biggest ever and includes something for pretty much everyone out there,” The shufflers say, and they’re not telling fibs. Swindon Link, Sheer Music, Swindon Folk Club, and many others all muck in to help create the enormous homage to David Young and raise funds for Prospect. I made it down last year for just Saturday. I’m thinking I might need to find a B&B this year and a sudden attack of skivalitis from work this time around!
From alt-rock of All Ears Avow and Modern Evils, to the sludge doom of Phantom Droid. The likes of Stay Lunar, Moon UK, Viduals and Chasing Dolls keep the indie-kids dancing and there are first shuffle experiences for up and coming bands Trippy Kicks, I See Orange, and Mirrored Faces UK.
If something rootsier is more your thing, you are also well-catered for with the widescreen americana of Matt Owens Music & The Delusional Vanity Project and Concrete Prairie headlining stages, along with folkier offerings from the likes of Fly Yeti Fly, Canute’s Plastic Army and Splat The Rat.
Subject A bring a touch of Ska and Reggae to proceedings and there is creative and impossible to pigeonhole music from Will Lawton and the Alchemists, Richard Wileman / Karda Estra & Amy Fry Music and new band The Wheel 2!, who feature many of the faces behind the amazing and much missed Diagonal People. Thud and Bone Chapel bring some blues to proceedings and Swindon Folk Club again curates a stage.
With over sixty acts on the main bill you need to put this in your diary, but for now, whether your Dad is bigger than my Dad, or not, all eyes are focussed on 22nd July, when the wonderful park venue of the Old Town Bowl comes alive….and to think, there’s some wonky folk who groan Swindon is a cultural void, same ones still probably trying to get their bra back from their boyfriend’s car, ooh ah!
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