written by acousticrant on 10/03/2012
In 2007 I booked and paid for tickets for all my family to attend and camp at this festival in Nantwich. We never got a festival and we never got a refund! It was cancled the day before we were due to travel there. Despite returning the tickets by recorded delivery, as requested, and being very patient, all we got were excuses and promisses of a refund "after the next festival". This went on for over a year, initially I some sympathy for the situation the promotors were in, but as time went on on I did start to feel I was being fobbed off. I had just been made redundant at the time and the festival was to be our family holiday that year - we could not afford to lose that money. Eventually the company that organised the festival went into liquidation... no prospect of refund ever. But look what has happened now, they are back - a "slightly" different company but they claim the "past" events organised by their predecessor company as theirs! In reallity they are the same people, Mike Stephens etc. My advice is to think very carefully before booking tickets for this festival. The Nantwich one was not the only one to be cancled, at least one other was also cancled. If you do decide to go ahead do NOT pay the organisers directly (as I did to save a few pounds) - use a credit card to pay, at least you can then get your money back if things go wrong.
written by Nigel Morgan on 24/05/2011
We have been to this festival each year from it's beginning in Nantwich.
Great relaxed atmosphere. Good sized camping/caravanning site. Clean toilets, hot showers. Family orientated, the kids can go off learning to use a diabloe if they don't want to watch the Bands.
Good line-up of bands and artists. If you don't want to listen to the Bands on the main stage you can wander around and catch artists you have never heard of and be pleasantly surprised. Highlights this yeat for me were seeing Fish (Marillion) singing amongst the crowd and Cerys Mathews performing ballads accompanied by only an acoustic guitar. What an amazing powerful voice! Roll on next year.
Written on: 08/07/2012
It's clear that money has been made from this festival since 2007 and not a penny of this has gone to compensating the families who lost large sums of money in 2007 through no fault of their own. I don't think this is right and I would not buy a ticket or support this event, sorry, but I don't believe in customers being treated in this way, it shouldn't be allowed for organisers to call themselves a different company and dodge all responsibility.
Written on: 14/03/2012
The very first festival was held in Nantwich in 2006 and was a success but quite low key. The following year it was cancelled at short notice due to the adverse weather conditions. Tickets purchased were valid for the following year(2008)at a different venue (Catton Hall) which went ahead successfully. The venue was changed again the following year to Uttoxer Racecourse where it has been held for the past 3 years.
written by on 23/05/2011
Thought this was a great little festival - good relaxed atmosphere, music was impressive, was good to see icons of the 60's/70's like the Strawbs and Wishbone Ash. Hazel O'Connor was fab, impressive acoustic version of Eight Day, even though the sound was a bit hit and miss in the big top venue. Liked Steve Harley, better than expected and really enjoyed Sheelanagig, Seven Little Sisters and Hayseed Dixie.
Loads of space for camping and the loo's were great, flushing, ceramic, never ran out of loo roll, soap, paper towels etc. Veritable luxury when compared to the Glasto loos!
A good kick-off to the festival season if you like acoustic music, beer and a relaxed vibe.
written by on 22/05/2011
humm? well gave it a try as like steve harley, ( he was great) as was john parr (wow) but you would enjoy it more if you re over 50 and bearded! male or female!! was a bit too old hippy for us but a bit of fun andbeer was ok . toilets yakky, sad cos they are mentioned in the flyers as being ok!
written by on 02/07/2010
Second year at this festival. Fantastic, friendly people, great bands, good food and amazing weather both years.
2009: Favourites were Baka Beyond, Aziz, Ed Tudor Pole, Ade Edmondson and the Bad Shepherds.
2010: Too many to mention but a few are - Aziz, Mike ? and Amy ? (she played harp), Piste Artistes
Great facilities even though the hot water ran out on the Sunday (it was soon sorted out).
Although I don't have children, this is a great festival for kids - not too big and plenty to keep them busy.
Santa even came along this year!
written by stig1959 on 18/06/2010
As the Sun would say,"Phew, What A Scorcher!"
Couldn't have planned better weather for going to our first acoustic festival. The venue was great, as were the camping facilities. The festival site was well laid out and not too big. My only concern was the dome stage being too small for some of the bands playing(3 Daft Monkeys and Leatherat nned more space). Most main stage acts were really good, but what was Donovan on! I know he is laid back, but his set was embarrasing, lots of people left mid way through!
Overall, great weekend. Thanks to all those involved in the organisation,planning and stewarding.
Cheers, Nigel J.
written by on 30/05/2010
Good site close to the town and railway station. Good Car Parking and access and Camping next to your car. Excellent bands both known and unknown. Nice clean toilets and showers. Litter free site. Lots for the kids - football workshops, face paining, juggling, drumming. Very laid back. One of the best "small" festies. Unfortunately, Tescos ran out of ice, the weather was so hot.
written by on 27/05/2010
Donovan was great, like in a living legend sense, but was a bit ropey at times. Really enjoyed 3 daft monkeys as always but the real standout for me was a group in the beer tent on Saturday called GHOST TRAINS. Just ace songs, really, really good. Has anyone heard of them playing anywhere else?
written by on 26/05/2010
Great Festival! this was my first time going and I was really impressed. The atmosphere was brilliant and good fun for all the family, staff and security were both helpful and friendly. The toilet and shower facilities were very clean too. The entertainment was great all around, The Hampsters and Kate Rusby deliverd a most enjoyable set on the main stage, but there were also some more fantastic bands & artists on the other stages too.
SURPRISE OF THE WEEKEND: I saw an amazing band called The Beetroot Kings. I was absolutley blown away by their set! they were without a shadow of a doubt were the best band there all weekend, it was so refreshing to hear a new band with such a different sound. Very Entertaining! will definitely be getting tickets for this Festival again. :)
written by on 25/05/2010
First time ive taken my family to a festival, we are local so thought this would be perfect. We didnt camp but the facilities on site i.e toilets showers looked lovely and clean. The food was of a high standard and value for money. We went saturday night and sunday all day, the weather was simply exausting, but still wonderful. Saw Donovan saturday night. im not a fan but he was suprisingly good. Sunday was a Great day for music the highlight for me was seeing a band id never even heard of called beetroot kings. There was alot of talk about them round the festival so i sheltered from the sun in the beer tent to see them. fantastic atmosphere in there they totally lit up the afternoon getting all the crowd singing along to them. only downside was the long breaks between artists. We were front of stage to see the levellers acoustic and as always they performed very polished and got everyone jumping about. This is a great festival for families and having a relaxing weekend. i hope it comes to Utoxeter again 2011 i will certainly be attending.
And all round fun and relaxing weekend listening to great artists some big some small but a great mix. highlight of the weekend? BEETROOT KINGS hands down the best band there. supurb.
written by on 25/05/2010
only made the sunday but really enjoyed the atmosphere ,music, company and the sun.hope it comes to uttoxeter again.very frendly staff and great to see the bands mingle with the crowd watching the other acts and talkng to the audience.the hamsters as always were polished.the caldicot morris dancers scarey.beetroot kings as good as anyone that i saw on the day.
roz bruce great local talent,eddie tenpole worth watching just for his sound check alone,the big fibbers were completely bonkers and the levellers-the first time ive seen them live awesome no queues no hassle only one problem .where was everyone from uttox finally radio mary on fri heard them in my garden stole the show long live, live uttox
written by on 24/05/2010
Great festival, but ACOUSTIC? Quite a lot of it wasn't!!!
Best surprise act - Peace Artistes, who were fabulous fun, great musicians and most certainly acoustic! More roving players would be welcome next year - they were a brilliant surprise.
Nicest touch - the free face painting for the children. It was superb artistic quality work, not the usual standard provided for kids at all.
Leatherat were great, even though they were NOT acoustic, but it was spoiled by the fact that the stage they were on was FAR TOO SMALL. They have a big sound and the audience didn't have enough room to be able to see them and have room to dance. Ed Tudorpole was great, as was Donovan, but the Levellers were the best for me. The Morris was good - more of that in the daytime would be fun.
On the down side, too many of the acts in the Beer Tent were really rather awful and unprofessional 'one man and his guitar' types who sang badly - they did nothing to enhance the reputation of the festival at all.
Great sanitary facilities on site - always very welcome to us seasoned festy-goers;')
Overall, it was a good festival on a lovely site with a relaxed atmosphere. Good parking and easy links to main routes meant the getting there was stress free and so was leaving.
Thanks and see you next year.
written by robthewood on 26/01/2010
A very friendly family atmosphere. Loved seeing the kids doing their football workshops and the mums and dads at 8.30 Yoga Classes. Great being able to camp next to your car. Interesting stalls and great food. Best toilets and showers I've ever seen on a festival site. Friendly Staff and Security. Good Value for money.
2010 looks even better at the new site at Uttoxeter Racecourse with Donovan and The Levellers headlining. Got my earlybird tickets already.
written by on 21/11/2008
The Acoustic Festival of Britain was good value, it was a good weekend break with great artists and good drink / bar prices. Highly recommended.
written by on 20/11/2008
Great idea, went in 06 and it's getting better. Lots of acts and in covered areas that helps. Good setting very calm and picturesque along the trent river bank. I can see this becoming a 'must go' festival as the artists are a good mix, you see them in a different un-plugged way. And the pricing is very good.
written by Another guest on 17/09/2008
Some great performances throughout the weekend. Boss Hoss, Nathalia, Marsden & Murray, Glen Tilbrook and The Animals spring to mind. And some pretty bad ones (I'll refrain from mentioning names to protect the innocent).
Considering the battering the place was getting from the weather I thought the organisers did pretty well. I'll be going back next year.
written by voodooxtc on 24/06/2008
Overall I think the festival tried to be too grand. I think it would have benefitted from having fewer acts. There was a lot of poor quality, tribute or 'tribute' style acts (the Acoustic Beatles and Whitesnake being examples of both) that the festival could quite easily have done without (and who booked Tiny Tin Lady & The Toy Hearts???). The disruption caused by the weather and the main stage being closed meant that the organizers were fighting a losing battle trying to fit so many acts into the two marquees. Fairport Convention (who were excellent) found themselves playing in the smallest 'tent' which was full of deck chairs whilst most of the crowd was left standing outside the tent straining to get an occasional glimpse of the band. Fewer acts would also have meant that the crowd wouldn't have had to make choices like it was a game of Runaround (remember the kids TV programme?) , for example Midge Ure & Michael Chapman were playing at the same time (I chose Michael Chapman and believe I was 'one of the few' lucky ones). If there is a repeat of the festival, the organisers should consider a system of clearing out the deck/garden chairs which took pole position in both marquees throughout the weekend. Often they were un-attended (I half expected them to have German towels on them!) as this was annoying to everyone except, I suspect, the owners of the chairs who took up residence of their chairs for the main acts, relegating everyone else to the drafty outer confines of each marquee. As stated earlier I live in Burton-on-Trent (3 miles away from the site and is a town & district of 65,000 people). I saw no local advertising of the festival and only found out myself by word of mouth. I've played in local bands in the Burton area for over 30 years but didn't see any of my musical acquaintances, of which there are many, at the festival. I have spoken to many local people since the festival, very few of which knew of the event (probably only 10%), so, if that was repeated in other local towns (Tamworth, Lichfield, Stafford, Uttoxeter etc. not to mention the larger cities within 30 miles such as Birmingham, Derby & Leicester) the organizers have only themselves to blame for the low attendance. So there....
written by nearlylocal on 12/06/2008
Was only at The Acoustic Festival of Britain Sunday and Monday, but had a great time. Enjoyed most of the artists. The weather wreaked havoc of course and it would have been good to have chalk boards in each of the marquees or beer tents to give us the latest on who was going to play where and at what time. Big sympathy for those rushing around organising the best possible outcome in the circumstances tho.
Shame that a fantastic set by Midge Ure was lost to bad sound quality. Don't want to list all I liked because there was so much - but I want to say how great Swans in Flight were and that I'm delighted with the album and the Boss Hoss! - an hilarious end to Sunday night.
Written on: 11/08/2008
I agree with most of your comments, the lack of communication was very poor & FAR too many tribute bands and clapped out has-beens (Midge Ure).
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<br/>Can't agree with you on Tiny Tin Lady though. Along with Jah Wobble, Fairport, Tull & Giltrap, they were one of the real highlights. Genuine talent, really class. Well done to whoever booked them, I say.
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written by FAIRPORTNICK on 04/06/2008
I would love to see this festival succeed as its such a good idea.
written by purpleone on 31/05/2008
I went to the first Festy in Nantwhich.. it was great, just the right size, where it was suppose to be last year as well.. The organisers have tried to go big and it didnt work!! Yes some of the bands didnt turn up but not very many!! I waited 5 hours for Melanie to play she was vocally great as I thought she would be, but she seemed a tad 'Prima Donna'.. She hasnt changed the world that much!! NOW whiles waiting for her 'ladyship' the most fantastic HAZEL O'CONNER appeared!! WOW what a humble down to earth person! plus she made me cry with her Rebecca song.. and Donovan Fantastic.. will be back next year!! would be good at Nantwhich again though, plus its nearer to where I live..
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Acousticrant's Response to Nigel Morgan's Review
Written on: 10/03/2012
How did you go to the Nantwich festival? It was cancled the day before it was due to start!! Are you sure you are reviewing the right festival?