Valley Fest has announced its line-up in full, with the award-winning musical festival preparing to return to Chew Valley Lake, near Bristol, again on the first weekend of August 2023. The family-friendly event has revealed that The Kooks, Bananarama, and Scouting For Girls will be taking to the stage to entertain revellers this summer, alongside other performers and artists.
Other stars of the show include DJ Flight, Ishmael Ensemble, Ibibio Sound Machine, Bibi Tanga & The Selenites and Honeyfeet are also on the bill. Along with Altern 8, Crazy P (DJ set) Norman Jay MBE, Krafty Kuts, Soul ll Soul, The Legends of Goldie Lookin Chain (for a live show) Plump DJs, with one VERY special act still to be announced. The full line up can be found on the Valley Fest website.
To the delight of both adult and child festivalgoers, Arcadia’s Alchemist Playground, a field of activity during daylight, will return for the waterside weekend. The Woodland Tribe will be on hand to help build a playground out of reclaimed materials, upon which the kids will dance, when finished; the popular welding workshops will return as well as DJing and more craft activities than you can shake a felt-tip pen at.
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But when night falls, the Afterburner stage fires up and DJs take to the booth as the dancefloor fills and the lights and lasers reach to the stars. Expect performances from the Lord of Lightning who will make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck, along with cutting-edge fire shows -a spectacle like no other.
At the helm of the food programme for the best-tasting music festival in the South West is Josh Eggleton from The Pony Chew Valley. The menu includes feasts, cooking over fire and plenty of demonstrations from much-loved regional chefs and beyond.
These include Peter Sanchez-Iglesias, of Michelin-starred Paco Tapas and newly-opened Casa, Mark McCabe of green-Michelin-starred The Ethicurean Restaurant, Elliott Lidstone of Bib-Gourmand-awarded Box-E. Plus Pegs Quinn from Sonny Stores, Noya Pawlyn of Noya’s Kitchen, voted one of the UK’s Top 5 Independent Restaurants in 2021, Kalpna Woolf and Danny Bohan from River Café London and many more listed on the website.
Valley Fest asserts that attendees can expect the tastiest meal and be safe in the knowledge that you're eating in a way that cools the planet with the new addition of a Sunday Regen Roast. Ali Pumfrey from Yeo Valley and Rob Howell from Bib-Gourmand-awarded Root are in the kitchen.
Every single ingredient is claimed to have been produced using regenerative farming methods. The feasts go on sale in April and always sell out.
In 2022, Valley Fest was the first-ever festival to showcase all things regenerative. The festival claims that this is because their soil has such a crucial part in addressing climate change.
In 2023, the popular hub will include talks, panel discussions and workshops, plus food, drink and skincare from pioneering brands, farmers and producers. Not only that, there will be games, silent discos and comedy.
The programme has been carefully curated so that it caters for everyone – including food lovers, activists, gardeners, parents, farmers and children. Festival favourites, The Community Farm, will be running their popular tours, wildlife walks and workshops, so you can see organic and regenerative farming in action, plus the principles behind and underneath it.
From pint-sized punk poetry with TS Idiot, to The Little Things Theatre and Stone the Crones performances from Beccy Golding, there is something for the whole family at our Hear Here stage, where spoken word and storytelling is the name on everyone’s lips.
When you’re in need of pampering, head over to the Spa area for some realignment, refreshment and revitalising: massages, meditation and movement await. From sacred sound to yoga flow, reiki to reflexology, it will all be there.
Now in its ninth year, Valley Fest is going from strength to strength. The small, family friendly festival is becoming a firm favourite in the Bristol and South West calendar. Edged by the rolling Mendip hills, Chew Valley Lake provides the sparkling backdrop, which, some say, give it ‘the best view of any UK festival.’
Luke Hasell, festival founder says: "Guaranteed good times ahead! Families, you’ll find something for your toddlers, teens, parents and grandparents! Everyone needs to GET ON MY LAND!"
Expect hedge-to-hedge Somerset sparkle and spectacle with a whomping soundtrack. Weekend tickets are £175 (plus booking fee) and can be bought in instalments to spread the cost from the official Valley Fest website.
Valley Fest will take place from August 3 and 6.
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