Multi-million selling pop rockers Scouting for Girls, the Lightning Seeds and Toploader are set to headline the first Snowdonia Outdoor Festival in Bala this August, with more to be announced very soon.
SFG are best known for the UK number one She’s So Lovely and Toploader had a massive worldwide hit with Dancing In The Moonlight while the Lightning Seeds are most widely known for the football anthem Three Lions which reached number one on two occasions.
Tickets for the family friendly, three-day fiesta of outdoor sports and live music went on sale this week and the website, http://www.snowdonia-outdoorfestival.co.uk/, went live with up to 10,000 expected to flock to the spectacular lakeside setting at Llyn Tegid, Bala, from Friday, August 11, to Sunday, August 13.
SFG and Toploader went down a storm last year at the Keswick Mountain Festival, also organised by top UK events company Brand Events who are staging the Snowdonia Outdoor Festival.
They are among the most popular on the festival circuit with SFG due to play the massive Isle of Wight Festival this summer and Toploader releasing an eagerly anticipated new album in May.
Joining them are the Lightning Seeds, headed by legendary music figure Ian Broudie who teamed up with comedians David Baddiel and Frank Skinner for two-time chart-topper Three Lions.
Broudie played with fellow Liverpudlian Holly Johnson in Big in Japan and has produced for bands like Echo and the Bunnymen, The Fall, The Coral and The Zutons while the Lightning Seeds have played the main stage at Glastonbury and the V Festival.
Event Director Nicola Meadley said: “We’re really excited about the music we’ve pulled together for this first Snowdonia Outdoor Festival and we think it will go down well with our audience.
“The setting with the stage framed by the waters of Llyn Tegid and the hills behind will be awesome and there should be a fantastic atmosphere there with music going on from the afternoon well into the night.
“We selected acts which we believe will appeal to our festival-goers and we’ll be looking to add more names to the roster, including local artists and bands, as time goes on.”
Ken Skates, Welsh Government Minister for the Economy and Infrastructure which includes Culture, Leisure and Sport, said: “This is very exciting announcement and it is one that is a perfect fit for North Wales, the European capital of adventure sports.
“Bala is the ideal venue with its magical landscape, vibrant and welcoming Welsh culture and superb natural facilities of countryside, mountain, rivers and lake.
“The event combines the adrenaline buzz of outdoor activities and sports with an impressive music lineup and added to that is Brand Events’ track record of staging festivals that are successful and have staying power.”
Heledd Roberts, of Bala Business Association, has also welcomed the strong music lineup and the opportunities for local business brought by the festival.
She said: “The bands that have been announced are amazing and will appeal to a wide range of people and age groups locally and further afield and attract lots of visitors to the area.
“This is very positive news and so is the fact that they are making use of local activity providers and businesses and that includes caterers as well.
“Locally there have been lots of people asking about it and when they see the calibre of bands that will be here they’ll be delighted.”
Campers will begin arriving at the site at Gwernhefin Farm, Llanycil, near Bala, just off the A494 Bala to Dolgellau road, from Friday and the music programme will start that evening before the festival gets into full swing on Saturday with a full programme of outdoor events and exhibitions.
Brand Events are one of the UK’s premier organisers of live events and as well as Keswick Mountain Festival, being held for the 11th time in June, .they are also involved in car, food and craft shows across the UK involving stars such as Radio 2 DJ Chris Evans, celebrity chef Tom Kerridge, and property and handicrafts queen Kirstie Allsopp.
As well as the main area where the stage will be set up at lakeside and many activities and demonstrations held, there will be catering available and spacious camping and parking areas with the organisers expecting 5,000 people each day.
The majority will be camping for the weekend with a programme of outdoor sport competitions, speakers and taster sessions and live music from the afternoon until 10.30pm each evening.
The sporting events will include a range of legendary trail runs, open water swims on the lake, a mountain bike challenge and an iconic road bike sportive.
Outdoor activities have been designed with families in mind and will include hiking, canoeing, stand-up paddle boarding, gorge walking, sailing, windsurfing, rafting, swimming, climbing, walking and mountain biking with climbing walls and airbags set up and bushcraft talks and other hands-on activities available.
The Festival has capacity for up to 3,500 campers staying on site, as well as around 1500 people attending each day and staying or living locally.
To buy tickets or seek more information, readers should visit www.snowdonia-outdoorfestival.co.uk
