Celebrating Daventry's creativity

The music festival featured a string of local musicians performing live in the town centre, and marked the end of this year’s week-long festival.

There were scores of different events taking part, from the parade through the town that marked the start of the event, stargazing, bellringing, walks and talks on history, arts and crafts, theatre performances, live music, crafts and pre-loved markets, photography and more.

The Hat and The Hair Community Events team organised the musical elements of the festival showcasing Daventry’s own local bands and artists.

A large group of extravagant fancy-dress followers attended the musical Travelling Tea Party which bought much merriment to six different pubs of the town, from Fridays to The George over two nights in the week.

A music festival was held at Casey’s Bar which ran from Friday to Sunday night, with a medley of different styles and genres on offer from over 20 artists. There was opportunity for both beginners and old favourites alike to get on stage and ‘do a turn’.

Frontman Nik Aspey from Saturday’s headliners, Mammoth, said: “We had an awesome time, we’re very thankful for all the positive vibes we’ve been hearing about our performance. Thank you to everyone involved.”

Headliners Dead Frequency on Sunday night brought in a huge crowd, inclusive of fireworks and confetti cannons.

Despite the weather being near biblical at times, the team were always prepared.

Benson Fox, organiser of the festival is already planning for next year following its great success. He said: “I couldn’t have done it without all of the support of my team, friends and family.

“So much equipment and time was donated to us, everyone got stuck in to help set up. I can’t thank everyone enough.”

The Hat and The Hair run the open mic nights at Casey’s Bar the first Thursday of every month – next one to be held on Thursday July 7.

A spokesman for Daventry Town Council said: “The council is delighted with the success and popularity of this year’s Arts Festival and would like to thank its residents along with the creative and business community of Daventry for coming together and providing such a fantastic week-long festival.

“This was the first year Daventry Town Council organised the event, which opened with a parade celebrating the Summer Solstice and ended with a three-day live outdoor music festival, packed full of talented local musicians.

“The feedback received is extremely positive and people are already putting forward ideas for next year’s festival which we plan to make bigger and better.

“If you or your organisation would like to get involved with next year’s event, Daventry Town Council would be delighted to hear from you.”