New names in the festivals frame

In addition to the established Cleckheaton and Heckmondwike music festivals, new events in Mirfield and Batley will be getting a piece of the action this summer.

Mirfield Music Festival is set to take place in Mirfield Showgrounds on Sunday May 25. Organiser Donal O’Driscoll said he is confident the festival would generate the £35,000 target to break even.

Donal, who also runs Heckmondwike’s Crown of Lights festival, added: “Interest in the festival is really picking up.

“We have already sold about £1,500 worth of tickets, and we are expecting a late flurry of sales in the run-up to the event. We are expecting most of the money to be made from alcohol sales on the day.

“With the festival on the Showgrounds, it has potential to be four times as big as the Heckmondwike Festival.”

Another new kid on the festivals block is the Oakwell Music Festival, which is set to take place at Oakwell Hall Country Park on July 12.

The event features a stellar line up including the X Factor’s Lucy Spraggan, chart-toppers The Hoosiers and former Bluetones frontman Mark Morriss.

Organiser Paul Fisher believes the festival can rival the area’s more established events.

He said: “We’ve been overwhelmed by the amount of high calibre bands that have applied to play the festival and we’ve had to put on a third acoustic stage to accommodate more acts.

“We don’t have a big music festival in this part of West Yorkshire and with the sad demise of Party in the Park in Leeds, Oakwell Festival offers an alternative local music event for all ages.”

For information on Oakwell Hall music festival, visit www.oakwellfestival.co.uk. For Mirfield Music Festival, visit www.mfest.biz.