VIDEO: Morecambe Music Festival is huge boost for town

Excitement is mounting amid preparations for a new Morecambe Music Festival.
Morecambe Music Festival organiser Stuart Michaels.Morecambe Music Festival organiser Stuart Michaels.
Morecambe Music Festival organiser Stuart Michaels.

Banners have gone up outside participating venues and the line-up is taking shape for the event on Saturday, July 8.

Seventeen venues in central Morecambe, Heysham, the West End, Bare and Westgate will take part in the event – including pubs, a cafe, the Festival Market and the Winter Gardens.

There will also be a free afternoon stage at the Platform.

Morecambe Music Festival organiser Stuart Michaels.Morecambe Music Festival organiser Stuart Michaels.
Morecambe Music Festival organiser Stuart Michaels.
Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The festival will cover modern music genres such as pop, rock, soul and jazz in an aim to become an annual equivalent of the successful Lancaster Music Festival.

Morecambe singer and promoter Stuart Michaels is organising the event.

Stuart, who won The Visitor’s Sunshine Award for entertainment in 2017, said: “Hopefully on the day we can fill the town with people, from away from the town as well as in it.

“It’s down to the people of the area to come and support it now. The success and continuity of it going on next year, comes down to how successful it is this year.

Dani Gallagher will perform at the festival.Dani Gallagher will perform at the festival.
Dani Gallagher will perform at the festival.
Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Hopefully it will do the same as it’s done for Lancaster Music Festival. Last year Lancaster had over 30,000 people visit for the festival. That’s amazing. If we can get that within two or three years, it’s going to boost the economy around here, businesses and of course, pubs.

“For people who go out in Morecambe and have a good time, for me, it’s like a thank you to them. They can come out and enjoy a full day’s entertainment in all these different locations, for free.”

The community has rallied together to help the festival get off the ground.

Jen Woodhead, a Morecambe resident, set up a fundraising web page for the festival. So far more than £800 has been raised towards festival costs.

The Reggie Mental Band. Photo by Mike Jackson.The Reggie Mental Band. Photo by Mike Jackson.
The Reggie Mental Band. Photo by Mike Jackson.

The crowdfunding page is HERE.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Stuart’s friend, fellow singer Mike Jackson, is official photographer for the event and Morecambe businessman Dave Shaw has produced the official brochure.

This will be available in particpating venues, priced £1.

Main sponsor Morecambe Business Improvement District (BID) and The Bay radio are also supporting the event.

Morecambe Music Festival organiser Stuart Michaels.Morecambe Music Festival organiser Stuart Michaels.
Morecambe Music Festival organiser Stuart Michaels.

The event is not to be confused with the Morecambe Musical Festival which ran in the town from 1891 until 2004.

The festival venues are the Strawberry, the Cumberland, the William Mitchell, the Exchange, Jo ‘n Lee’s Cafe, the Palatine, the Royal in Morecambe, the Kings, the Lord Nelson, the Bath, the Chieftain, Smokey O’Connors, the Owls Nest, the Morecambe Hotel, the Platform, the Festival Market and the Winter Gardens Parisian Bar.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Acts include Fuse, Eva Marie, Natasha Bates, Jay Blackburn, the Reggie Mental Band, Howling Clowns, Dan Doherty, Rick Jackson, Two Stroke Diesel, Mark Yates, Dominic Clayton, Dani Gallagher, Lyndsey Brown. Keaton Ed Mars, Nose Bleeds and The Section.