Lakefest

LAKEFEST 2020

Eastnor Deer Park, Herefordshire

Thurs Aug 13th - Sunday Aug 16th 2020

A summer music festival, set for its ninth year, perfect for the whole family. Featuring multiple stages, programmed with both new and established acts. All set in the most beautiful of surroundings at the foot of the Malvern Hills.

 

Lakefest was born unofficially on April 9th 2011 when Croft Farm Waterpark hosted its inaugural music and cider festival.

The 2011 effort was essentially a giant cider festival (over 32 different ciders available and real ales aplenty) accompanied by some great music from The Wurzels, Avert Francis and The Roving Crows. Over 9000 pints of cider were enjoyed by revellers that shared a super special day in the Sunshine. It was an epic experience for everyone and the so the “lads” (organisers) chose to grow things a little in 2012…

As with all things like this the budget was blown and a ridiculous calibre of bands was booked including: EMF, Athlete, Reef, Dodgy, Toploader, Chesney Hawkes and many, many others. Being their first year, they were massively optimistic on our ticket sales and despite a massive turnout the finances prior to the opening of the festival were dire. Despite this the “lads” didn’t scrimp or save on any element of the festival. Karma played out and Lakefest 2012 was a monumental success getting rave reviews from guests and the local press. The local response was fairly overwhelming and resulted in shortlist places (top 3, 2012) at The UK Festival Awards for Best Small Festival, Grass Roots Festival, Best New festival and Best Family Festival.

It’s been a meteoric rise but they have vowed to stick to the friendly, slightly hippie West Country roots and continue to build a festival friendlier and more fun than any other. As you can probably tell by the price of the ticket, the “lads” are more interested in “legacy” and “memories” than financial gain. So much so, the organisers publish their personal telephone numbers if people want to talk to them. That’s unheard of but a testament to the beliefs of the organisers.

2016 saw the festival move to the larger site of Eastnor Castle in Ledbury, Herefordshire to accommodate the continued rise in popularity.