New festival in Harrogate hailed a success for highlighting 'awesome' part of town
Hundreds of people have flocked to a brand new festival held in an “awesome” part of Harrogate.
The inaugural Starbeck Festival saw a mix of local solo acts and bands performing from noon to 4pm on lovely Belmont Field off the High Street.
The whole community came together in the organising - Sarah Kayne and Lucky, the fabulous team at the Living Room, the crew at Susie June's cafe, AMC Windows, the Conservative and Forest clubs, volunteer stewards, design artists and many local businesses that sponsored the event.
The music side of the event happened with the help of one of the Harrogate music scene’s most experienced figures, DJ Trev, who MC-ed the main stage – the live performers included Robbie Miller, DJ Rory Hoy, Drop Leg Steppers, Millie Hamton, Olly and Simon, Jamie Bevan plus the Summer Belle Dancers.
The brainchild of Sarah Khanye, the event was voted a major success with hundreds of families filling the field.
"I wanted to create something where all of Starbeck could have a party and celebrate what an awesome place we live in,” said Sarah.
"The aim was to celebrate the best of Starbeck and all its surroundings, putting the area back on the map and bringing the community together, to show the spark was back in Starbeck."
"The hope was to create new connections and enable new friendships to flourish and businesses to shine.”
Among the highlights was MFOR, the legendary rock and pop covers band from Harrogate who first made a name for themselves in the 1990s.
Its ever-evolving line-up is still led by crowd-pleasing singer Paul Kettley but the much-loved band now includes his son Aidan on drums, as well as the expert Nick on guitar and Jonny on bass.
Still active after all these years; they have more than 25 gigs lined up before the end of 2024, MFOR not only bring their trademark energy to rock classics by Queen and Bon Jovi but also elevate pop hits such as The Bangles’ Walk Like an Egyptian, Don Henley’s Boys of Summer and Ah-ha’s Take On Me with their powerful but relaxed 1970s hard rock sensibility without sacrificing the pop.
As well as live music, Starbeck Festival also boasted stands from local charities and community groups.
The food and drink offer included refreshments provided by award-winning Harrogate Brewing Co.