From humble beginnings the Lechlade Festival has become one of the most successful annual events to be held in Gloucestershire.

Back in 2009 the Cotswold Water Park Society took over the management of Riverside Park and identified the area as the perfect event venue. It was then that local resident Jennie Rainsford met with event manager Fiona Marsh. The pair presented the Water Park Society with a proposal to hold a music festival on the land, promoting local talent and offering a great family day out.

“We always laugh when we reminisce about the first festival we organised back in 2011,” said Jennie. “We got by on a wing and a prayer really. We were slightly nervous about how many people would attend and how the acts would perform. Thankfully it was a great success and that inspired us to continue to grow the festival year-on-year,” she added.

In recent years festival goers have enjoyed performances from Status Quo, The Proclaimers and the Hoosiers. In 2018 the four-time Brit award nominees Scouting For Girls are the headline act in what promises to be another memorable three days at Riverside Park. The 2018 Festival runs from 25th-27th May and Jennie is quietly confident of setting a new attendance record.

Jennie continued: “It felt like a bit of a seminal moment when Scouting for Girls contacted us and asked to perform. They’ve had number one albums and singles and were really keen to perform at our festival. That goes to show how much progress we’ve made when you have a band of that stature wanting to perform here. It was a big confidence boost to all the team here.”

Jennie says her main aim when booking artists is to ensure there’s a variety of performers for all ages to enjoy. She said: “We’re very much a festival that is focused on providing quality entertainment for the whole family. A lot of people rock up on the Friday morning and pitch their tents for the whole weekend, so we need to ensure there’s plenty on to keep them happy. It’s not just about the music acts, we’ve also got our comedy stage, yoga workshops, dancing lessons, a kids’ play tent, fairground rides, bouncy castles plus dozens of outlets where you can buy food. We’ve a great relationship with so many traders who sell amazing food.”

Jennie, a former marketing & event management business owner, says applications to perform at this year’s festival left her overwhelmed. She said: “The bands submit live footage online for the application process and the team listen to them all together. We received over one thousand recordings from acts wanting to appear, which was incredible. Thankfully we’ve got a team of keen music lovers who were all happy to listen to the samples! We’re always keen to give opportunities to unsigned acts and help give them a bit of exposure. We’ve got a number of bands returning from last year, including ‘Magicians Nephew’, ‘Other Animals’ and ‘The Roscoes Wild Child’, who are really good. Another band to keep an eye out for are ‘Hush Mozey’, who come with a big reputation, we’re really looking forward to seeing them perform.

“When we first had the idea of organising a festival we wanted to help raise the profile of Lechlade. Fairford has the annual Airshow and a lot of towns across the county hold annual festivals. This was a chance to get people into our town as well as giving exposure to local artists and performers. Our first festival was in 2011, we weren’t too sure what to expect but we were pleased when 1600 people turned up. Attendances have increased year-on-year, in 2017 we welcomed over 6000 people. We’re confident with the line-up we’ve assembled this year we’ll beat last year’s attendance. The weather always plays a part, the whole team spend the lead-up to the festival keeping their fingers crossed for dry weather!

“It’ll be a manic three days for me but I love it. The festival is the culmination of 12 months of planning and organising, it’s incredibly satisfying when everything runs smoothly. There’s a team of us that are involved, and we’re so grateful to the amazing group of volunteers that help out.”

The Lechlade Festival runs from 25th-27th May.