The stunning grounds at Westonbirt Arboretum will play host to some of the biggest musical acts in the world as the annual Forest Live festival gets underway on 14th June.

Set in 600 acres of majestic Gloucestershire countryside, Westonbirt Arboretum is home to over 2,500 different types of tree, some of which are on the rare or endangered list. The arboretum is managed by the Forestry Commission who organise the annual Forest Live concerts, held across various forests in England.

Irish group The Script kick-off the four-day event at Westonbirt on Thursday June 14th, and their frontman Danny O’Donoghue says his band are looking forward to performing at the arboretum for the first time. He said: “We love performing as part of Forest Live. We’ve played three times at Thetford Forest but this will be our debut at Westonbirt Arboretum. We hope you can join us to rock in this unique atmosphere.”

Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott, who found fame with The Beautiful South in the 1990s, will be performing on the Friday evening, with Paloma Faith and George Ezra, two of the biggest selling artists in the country, performing on Saturday and Sunday respectively, in front of a capacity crowd of almost 10,000 people.

Simon Hough, Event Manager at the Forestry Commission, says he’s counting down the days to the 2018 Forest Live performances at Westonbirt Arboretum. “We’re incredibly excited for what promises to be another fantastic four days of performances from some of the biggest musical acts in the world,” said Simon. “From our very first concert almost 20 years ago, Forest Live has earned a reputation for being one of the best music festivals in the country. We’re so excited for this year’s event, the performers we’ve booked are sure to put on a real show,” he added.

Simon, who has worked for the Forestry Commission for 18 years, says the grounds at Westonbirt Arboretum are the perfect setting for the annual music festival. Continued Simon: “Westonbirt Arboretum is a wonderful venue. The bands and performers that have played there have all said how much they’ve enjoyed the experience and atmosphere. The great thing about Forest Live is the acts we book aren’t competing against other bands or performers. There’s one main stage and the artists have enough time to perform the set they want to, rather than rushing against strict time restraints like at some festivals.

“Westonbirt Arboretum is such an iconic venue, it’s a real privilege to be able to work here. The feedback we get from visitors is always positive, which makes all the hard work worthwhile. Like any outdoor event we’ll be praying that the weather is kind to us, especially when it comes to setting up the stage as things can get quite tricky when the ground is soft and muddy.”

Forest Live is a nationwide series of concerts, first held in 2001. Acts such as Ed Sheeran, Little Mix, Tom Jones and Jessie J have performed at some of the most well-known forests in England in recent years. Income generated from ticket sales helps to look after the nation’s forests sustainably, for people to enjoy and wildlife to thrive.

The arboretum at Westonbirt lies just a ten-minute drive from the Cotswold town of Tetbury in south Gloucestershire. Robert Holford inherited the estate in 1839, a time of great excitement in the plant world. Victorian plant-hunters were bringing new and exotic species from the farthest reaches of the British Empire and these formed the basis of much of the collection that is present today. Nowadays, Westonbirt Arboretum is perhaps the most important and widely known arboretum in the United Kingdom.