Lancaster Music Festival launches Search For A Star competition with main stage prize

Lancaster Music Festival has launched a competition to find future musical stars in the district.
Lancaster Music Festival have launched 'Search for a star'.Lancaster Music Festival have launched 'Search for a star'.
Lancaster Music Festival have launched 'Search for a star'.

The festival’s Search For A Star competition will offer young musicians the opportunity to be mentored by music industry professionals, culminating in performances on the main stages at Lancaster Music Festival in October.

The competition is open to bands, groups and solo artists from anywhere in the district who are aged between 14 and 19 and play mainly original music of any genre.

Divide and Conker perfom at the Lancaster Castle for Lancaster Music FestivalDivide and Conker perfom at the Lancaster Castle for Lancaster Music Festival
Divide and Conker perfom at the Lancaster Castle for Lancaster Music Festival
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Four selected acts will receive practical guidance to prepare them for performing on stage and progressing in the music business. During interactive rehearsal sessions the performance mentoring with Limelight Music Studio in The Storey will cover subjects such as performance technique, stagecraft, vocal coaching, repertoire development and audience engagement. Separate music business sessions with Rock People Management, who manage Massive Wagons, will cover how to represent and promote themselves to agents, management and venues.

The four acts will perform at a concert at Lancaster’s Grand Theatre in September and the winning act will play a set on the festival’s main stage in Lancaster Castle.

Festival director Stuart Marshall said, “Lancaster Music Festival is all about promoting the vibrant music scene in the Lancaster district. This year’s festival will be the 10th edition and whilst we want to reflect on and celebrate what’s gone before – for example we will be inviting back some of the most popular international artists who have given the festival its special flavour – we very much want to look to the future and highlight some of the new talent that is coming through.

“We see this as a fantastic opportunity for young musicians to learn from music professionals who have been working in the industry for more than 25 years and we’re hoping it will be a platform to launch the careers of new local stars”.

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Applications are now open via www.lancastermusicfestival.com and will close at midnight on March 15.

This look to the future will also be reflected in the programming of the festival’s main stages.

Stuart added: “We’re looking to feature as many upcoming local acts as we can on our main stages. Not just from the Lancaster district but also from the rest of Lancashire and Cumbria too. We’re delighted to be able to announce that local act Lowes will headline our Castle stage on the Saturday of the festival”. Lowes, who signed a deal with Sony International Records in 2017, performed their first gig as a signed band on the Castle stage during the last festival. Since then they have been flagged as one of the record company’s ‘Ones To Watch In 2019’ and are currently busy writing and recording tracks for their first album.

Early-bird weekend passes for the Castle concerts, which will include headline performances by Lowes and Massive Wagons and a third yet-to-be-announced act, can also be purchased via the website.