STOKE FEST 2011

The visitors to the 4th Annual Stoke Fest - Music Festival on 9th July 2011 in Stoke Golding enjoyed a wide variety of music, starting with Marky T and friends.  Marky then handed over the stage to a young, up and coming band, Dig Lazarus.  It was then down to Jim Hirons to entertain the crowd with a wide medley of songs before The Conscripts, all of this band are only aged 14 and 15!  These seasoned young professionals took the stage and had the crowd singing and stamping along.

The Fest enjoyed a performance by Black Star Bullet who managed to fit in the Stoke Music Festival to their busy touring schedule and they were fantastic, followed by the excellent well known local band Phoenix.

The next band in this busy line up were the entertaining Trunkee Lookin Pants – we tried to ask how they got their name, but never did find out!  General Jack were back from last year by popular demand and they had the job of warming up the audience for our headline band - The Gritters.

The Music Festival really had the crowd dancing all night with top quality music and entertainment. In addition to the bands there were a large number of stalls, and plenty of entertainment for the kids, which meant that Mums and Dads could watch and enjoy the music without too much interruption!

Needless to say the preparations are already under way for next year's Stoke Fest, which will be on the 7th July 2012. As ever, the plans are for something even bigger and better than ever and so watch this space!

The organisers would like to give a BIG thank you to:

• the advertisers who sponsored the programme
• everyone who donated raffle prizes
• Britvic who donated soft drinks for the event
• Church End Brewery who had to do an emergency beer delivery
• St Johns who provided the first aid cover on the day.

And of course, an even bigger thank you goes to all of the volunteers who helped either in the organisation of the event or on the day.  Without this army of volunteers this fantastic event simply could not run.

From this year's event the hard work of the organisers and volunteers means that they will be donating £2,800 to their selected charities:

• Wishes 4 Kids
• Air Ambulance
• Leicester Animal Aid
• plus, a small donation to the St John's Ambulance.

The organisers are always on the look out for more volunteers and so if you are interested in helping with next years Stoke Fest, in whatever way, then please email them at stokefest2011@gmail.com