The ‘My Dad’s Bigger Than Your Dad Festival’ will be held at Town Gardens Bowl on Saturday, 28 August, from midday until 10pm.
The charity festival, run by the people behind The Swindon Shuffle in partnership with South Swindon Parish Council, is being held in tribute to Dave Young, the former landlord of The Victoria and 12 Bar, who sadly died in early June at the Prospect Hospice after a hard-fought battle against cancer.
The free entry acoustic stage on the bandstand will feature some of the best local bands from around Swindon and will be playing from midday until 6.30pm.
They will be complementing the bands already announced for the Old Town Bowl stage which include The Boys from County Hell, Kova Me Badd and Gaz Brookfield and the Company of Thieves.
The acoustic line-up is made up of The Shudders, B-Sydes, Ghost of Machines, The Lost Trades, Robynne Calvert, Harmony Asia, Gilmore and Jaz, and Plummie Racket.
Organiser Ed Dyer said: “We wanted to make this a truly inclusive community event and involve as much of the local music scene as possible.
“The bandstand is perfect as it’s outside the ticketed area, which is the bowl, so this will be completely free for anyone to come along and get a taste of what the festival is about.
“The general public will also be able to pop along and enjoy fairground rides, arts and crafts, food and drink, trade stalls, and circus performances from Tom Falding of Fandangos and face-painting all in the non-ticketed part of the festival.
“It really is going to be a festival for the community by the community all in tribute to a man who gave so much to the community.”
The festival organisers are made up of several key members of the Swindon music scene including the people behind Swindon Shuffle, as well as Andy Loddington, the man behind Summer Breeze and Jamie Hill, the editor of The Ocelot and Swindon Link. They are also working very closely with Anna Sprawson, the widow of Dave Young.
The stellar musical line-up on the main bowl stage is headed by David’s former band The Boys From County Hell, an Irish Folk-Punk band in the vein of The Pogues, who toured the UK and internationally to huge acclaim and who are reuniting for the occasion to perform for the first time in more than a decade.
Joining them will be Dave’s last band, the legendary punk covers outfit The Chaos Brothers, along with Gaz Brookfield & The Company of Thieves, with whom he toured the UK as sound engineer.
Also featuring are a host of acts who were all championed by David in one way or another during his time as a cornerstone of the local music scene, including parody party covers act Kova Me Badd and ska-punk band Slagerij. THUD! will also be playing, as well as blues-funk three-piece Hip Route and reggae act The Erin Bardwell Trio, plus many more.
As well as the music there will be plenty of activities for all the family and food and drink from a variety of locally-based vendors, including a licensed bar.
The ‘My Dad’s Bigger Than Your Dad Festival’ will be held at Town Gardens Bowl on Saturday 28 August, from midday until 10pm.
Tickets are available online via seetickets.com or in person at Holmes Music and The Tuppenny in Swindon, Tescos in Calne and Sound Knowledge in Marlborough.
Tickets
Adult Ticket (18+) - £20
Concession Ticket (10-17 years) - £12
Child Ticket (Under 10 years old) – Free
Family Ticket – two adults and two concessions - £50
To keep up to date with information about the festival visit www.mydadsbiggerthanyourdad.co.uk
To donate to the JustGiving page, visit https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/MDBTYDFestival