New festival launching in Cottingham
EVENT REPLACES CANCELLED SPRINGBOARD FESTIVAL
THIS bank holiday weekend sees the start of a new music festival that has been launched in the village of Cottingham following the cancellation of the long-standing Springboard Festival earlier this year.
The Springboard event had grown continuously since it started back in 2006 as a one-day event in the King William IV pub.
It soon became one of the most anticipated weekends on the calendar before its shock cancellation, leaving many musicians and music lovers in the dark as to its future.
The new event set to take over has been rebranded as Springfest and it will continue to take forward all the existing traditions of Springboard, much to the delight of everyone involved in the Cottingham music scene.
Springfest is the evolution of the Cottingham tradition and a huge feature of the village, says one of the organisers, Lewis Mennell.
Lewis said: “The response has been amazing. It was a mad rush for me, Jamie, and the rest of the organising team to get up and going.
“The local area and shops see a lot of footfall that weekend, it means ever such a lot, not just to the local area, but to the people who embrace it because it brings a lot of trade to the town.
“It gives the area an incredible buzz and with music fans and those who come to Springboard. It’s more than seeing acts, it’s about networking with each other.
“More than 150 different acts have all been confirmed to play across eight different venues in the village.
“In tradition with the grassroots festival before Springfest, some of these acts will have the chance of their first taste of a live audience.”
The Cottingham venues that are so far confirmed for The Springfest are organised by a selection of key musicians. They include The King William, run by James Millar and Pete Clarkson on the acoustic stage in the front bar, and The Sounds of the Estuary in Martha’s Bar. The Duke of Cumberland with Joe Galloway in the bar stage and Off the
Road in the Courtyard Stage. The Hallgate Tavern is run by Music HQ and The Tiger features The Africa Studio’s stage. Raph’s Lounge has The Humberground Stage and The Cassiel Bar, run by Nick Oldridge and Colin Metcalf, and St Mary’s Church are hosting the Culture Train stage and the Wok-so-ever Acoustic Patio stage.
The event is being held this coming weekend, from May 26 to 28, and is free.
Full details can be found on the Cottingham Fest 23 website.
ON FRIDAY night, The Ryder Club on Coltman Street is hosting the 2023 Hessle Road Reunion.
This annual event will see two members of local fundraising group The Society of Mice perform on stage from 8pm. Mark Kelly is the host and compere and guest artist on the night is singer Steve Hunter.
The evening will also include a disco, raffle and hot food will be served.
Tickets for the event are available from The Ryder Club, The Halfway House pub on Hessle Road or the Hull Fishing Heritage centre 270b The Boulevard, Hull.
Traditionally, the night is always a well-attended event and a chance for the folk of Hessle Road old and new to catch up on good times.
Also on Friday night, the Soul XS club night is being held at the Hessle Ex-servicemen’s club on Hull Road in Hessle.
Following the huge success of their last event, the team from Soul XS returns with the sounds of Soul and Motown for lovers of Northern Soul and Motown classics.
The evening starts at 7pm and features the resident DJ team of Steve Gill, Rob Cooke, Neil Laverick, Steve Hutson and Arthur Hardy.
There will also be a special guest DJ Snowy appearing on the night and entry is £3 on the door.
AMONG the other gigs of note this week include this afternoon’s Wednesday club at The William
Gemmell with guest artist Fiona, and tomorrow night The Ritz Country Music Club on Holderness Road features the ever-popular George Mcintosh.
The Sun Inn in Beverley have a great Bank Holiday line-up of entertainment sorted starting on Friday night with the local covers band Reloaded and on Saturday night the Queen tribute outfit Kinda’ Queen.
On Sunday night you can catch female vocalist Donna Marie at The St Vincent’s Social on Queens Road in Hull and next Tuesday night The William Gemmell CMC on Anlaby Road features Phil Taylor.
FINALLY, the President’s Night held last Wednesday at the Willows Sports and Social Club in aid of Hornsea Inshore Rescue and the charity Pulmonary Fibrosis was a great success with more than £3,300 being raised on the night.
Organiser Cliff Griffiths sends special thanks to all of the artists who gave up their time to appear on the night and the 200-plus people who supported the annual event.