Sellindge Music Festival

=The Event=

Sellindge Music Festival is a three-day outdoor event that takes place annually in the countryside between Ashford and Folkestone in South Kent. The site for the festival is on Hope Farm, which is easily accessed from Junction 11 off the M20.

History

Background

The idea for Sellindge Music Festival was concieved in 2003 by Andre Double, who wanted to combine his love of live music with his Grandfather's ambition of staging a festival on his family farm. Andre used the backdrop of the Sellindge Steam Special - a family event of over thirty five years to launch a single music marquee in 2005. Playing on bare grass, with a hastily hired PA, over twenty acts performed at the event. The following year saw the marquee move and double in size. By 2007, the music within the Steam Rally had continued to grow, with greater numbers of local bands appearing. A folk tent was added and the team continued to grow. The groundwork had been done and planning for a dedicated music festival was well underway. [ [http://www.sellindgemusicfestival.co.uk/about.php Sellindge Music Festival] ]

2008

2008 saw the launch of the first fully-fledged music festival at Sellindge. The event took place over the weekend of the 6th, 7th and 8th of June with around 60 bands performing over three different stages. Performance areas included the main stage, which was headlined by Idlewild and Mark Morriss of the The Bluetones, a folk stage and a tent hosted by BBC Kent Introducing. A dance tent also featured DJs arranged by Bournemouth-based Techno promoters DELETE, including LEK, DJ Mossman, Mudie, Marlow and Dubnium. The festival site played host to further entertainment, including a dedicated VW field and fair-ground.

The Future of Sellindge

Having securely established itself as a music festival, the close of the summer saw Andre making plans to expand the event in the future. Confirming the 5th, 6th and 7th of June 2009 as the dates of the next weekend, he opened management positions for the organisation of Sellindge 2009. Applicants Benjamin Wells and Pete Lea were appointed to the positions in early September and began work on the arrangement of everything for the next Sellindge Music Festival. Combining their experience in new music radio and live music production, the team have set about the task of contributing to Kent's growing music scene and establishing Sellindge as a nationally-known Festival playing host to some of the most up-and-coming acts in the industry.

Live music-promoters NorthSouthDivide have already confrirmed their presence at Sellindge '09 [ [http://www.myspace.com/northsouthdivide NorthSouthDivide] ] and will be bringing some of the freshest underground talent from London and Manchester to the Festival in June. BBC Kent Introducing will also be returning in 2009, showcasing the best local talent over the weekend. According to the official Sellindge website, details of ticket sales as well as initial artist confirmations will be released towards the end of 2009 [ [http://www.sellindgemusicfestival.co.uk Sellindge Music Festival] ] .

External Links

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[http://www.sellindgemusicfestival.co.uk Sellindge Music Festival official website]

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[http://www.myspace.com/sellindgemusicfestival Sellindge on Myspace]

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[http://www.bbc.co.uk/kent/introducing BBC Kent Introducing official website]

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[http://www.myspace.com/bbckentintroducing BBC Kent Introducing on Myspace]

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[http://www.myspace.com/northsouthdivide NorthSouthDivide]

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