Stamford Riverside Festival

Stamford Riverside Festival was an annual music festival in Stamford, Lincolnshire, England. It has been going for over 25 years, previous event names being 'Rock on the Rec', 'Rock on the Meadows' and 'Music on the Meadows'.

Stamford Riverside Festival
Fireworks at the 2008 festival
GenreRock, Punk, Indie, Acoustic, Dance
DatesJuly
Location(s)Stamford, Lincolnshire, England
Years active1999–2012
WebsiteRiversidefestival.co.uk

The festival provided for genres such as Rock, Punk, Indie, Acoustic and more recently, Dance, and has included artists such as Midget, Enter Shikari, Hazel O'Connor, The Levellers and Blast,[1]

History

The Stamford Riverside Festival began over 25 years ago as 'Rock on the Rec', a small gathering on a recreation ground in Stamford. Following increasing event success, its location was changed to its current position on meadows by the banks of the River Welland, with a name change to 'Music on the Meadows'. In 1999 it was rebranded as the 'Riverside Festival'. A more organised approach to the running of the event included the introduction of more stages and stalls.[2] Because of the increasing financial strain of running a free festival, and ever-mounting difficulties in obtaining sponsorship, a request was made for a donation from adults on entry. Other changes included the banning of bringing alcohol to the event, in line with police recommendations.

After 3 successive cancellations the organisation began referring to the festival in the past tense.[3] It may never be held again.[4]

Festivals

2009

The 2009 event took place on 4 July and included sets by Neck and Stornoway.

2010

The 3–4 July 2010 festival utilised four stages, and was held over two days[5] to celebrate the festival's 10th anniversary. A 'Road to Riverside' competition to find a local band to play at the event was arranged by festival organisers and the Rutland and Stamford Mercury, and received 670 entries.[6]

The 2010 event included a set by Los Salvadores.

2011 (cancellation)

On 24 December 2010 it was announced that the festival would be cancelled for 2011, through lack of agreement between the organisers and Stamford Town Council over the re-use of the festival site,[7] and the council's concern over previous damage caused, and the organiser's reluctance to provide the council with audited accounts.[8]

A Facebook page was set up in support of the festival.[9] A picnic, promoted by an Internet campaign, was held on the festival date, with a set played by a local band. The picnic was attended by "hundreds of people".[10]

2012 (cancellation)

In 2011 it was confirmed that the festival would return for 2012, and would be a ticket only event limited to 15,000 people.[8] The decision to charge entry was to help with rising costs.[11]

This event, too, had to be cancelled. This time the reason was the flooding of the site during a summer of regular heavy rains. Stamford town council intervened when the site was flooded 2 days before the event was due to start.[3][12][4][13]

2013 (cancellation)

A plan for a substantial festival in 2013 was cancelled because of difficulties over insurance caused by previous year's flooding. By February the insurers had still not settled for the previous year's cancellation and the committee felt that they could not go ahead for 2013.[3][12][4][14]

See also

References
  1. "Riverside Festival 2007", Stamfordonline.co.uk. Retrieved 15 May 2012
  2. "Riverside Festival 2012 Stamford". Visit Stamford. Retrieved 1 August 2013. The event will also include children’s entertainment and workshops, a traditional family fun fair, real ale and cider festival and bar, a wide range of refreshments from around the world, craft and market stalls and a fabulous firework finale.
  3. "The Riverside Festival was the finale of the Stamford Festival for over 30 years". Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  4. Kelly, Kay (15 February 2013). "Future of Stamford's Riverside Festival hanging in the balance". Stamford People. Local World. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  5. "2010 Riverside Festival - 3 & 4 July", Creationbooth.co.uk. Retrieved 15 May 2012
  6. "Sign up to play at Riverside Festival", Rutland and Stamford Mercury 26 March 2010. Retrieved 15 May 2012
  7. "Riverside Festival cancelled", Rutland and Stamford Mercury 24 December 2010. Retrieved 15 May 2012
  8. "Riverside Festival will be held next summer", Rutland and Stamford Mercury 25 November 2011. Retrieved 15 May 2012
  9. "Riverside Day", Facebook.com. Retrieved 15 May 2012
  10. "Show of support for Riverside Festival on Stamford’s Meadows", Rutland and Stamford Mercury 4 July 2011. Retrieved 15 May 2012
  11. "Riverside Festival 2012 Stamford". Visit Stamford. Retrieved 1 August 2013. Admission: By ticket only numbers attending will be strictly limited this year; ... Stamford Town Council have insisted that Admission to the event this year is ticketed and that the audience numbers attending are strictly limited.
  12. "Stamford riverside festival cancelled". Stamford Mercury. 7 September 2012. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  13. "This event has been cancelled due to the weather conditions". Stamford meadows. Safeconcerts. 7 July 2012. Retrieved 1 August 2013. Stamford Town Council have had to call off Riverside Festival 2012 at the last minute due to safety concerns following the heavy rain overnight on 5 July. The site is suffering from flooding in various places, including within the St John Ambulance marquee, and if it continues to rain there is a danger that the rivers surrounding the Festival site might overflow.
  14. "Shock as riverside festival called off". Stamford Mercury. 15 February 2013. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
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