One of the many hardships that the last eighteen months has bestowed on us was the lack of live music, mass gatherings and communal dancing. There’s nothing quite like swaying in a field watching the stage lights illuminate a band in full swing is there? Well, thankfully, those times have returned and what a return it was as Local and Live was back in its spiritual home in Calverley Grounds.
There are many reasons why Tunbridge Wells is such a lovely community to call home and one very big and very loud reason takes place annually on the August Bank Holiday weekend. Local and Live’s return was met with fanfare and complete community support and rightly so as it’s a celebration of local music with performers that range from twelve year olds to seasoned professionals with a world of experience and it’s completely FREE!
Local and Live is a staple in the social calendar and adds to Tunbridge Wells’ thriving cultural scene with its aim “to promote public appreciation of and education in the arts and music by delivering a free to attend community festival, to include the performance of live original music and spoken word and other music-related educational events and opportunities.”
Speaking to Paul Dunton, who is on the board of trustees and has been since the festival’s inception back in 2006, he tells CommunityAd how proud he is of what the Local and Live team were able to achieve. Organising a festival like this is quite the logistical feat and given the confusion about the state of COVID-19 and government guidelines it was touch and go whether the festival would take place at all. Paul and his team somehow managed to organise the community-celebration in three and a half tireless weeks and they are certainly glad they did as are the hundreds who revelled in Calverley Grounds and the many musicians who graced the stage. Some of which were playing for the first time in front of a physical audience since the pandemic took hold.
More than anything else Paul thanks the musicians and the volunteers, without whom, he says Local and Live would not be possible. The volunteers as well as being vital to the festival’s continuation also manage to have a cracking time themselves, if you’re interested in volunteering don’t hesitate to get in touch, as Paul says there is plenty of fundraising events throughout the coming months.