a family friendly line-up welcomes Saturday's crowds at Osfest

I arrived at the Oswestry show ground early afternoon Saturday, under a bright blue sky it seems summer had finally arrived just in time for my first festival of the season.

Upon entering the festival it was clear that it was a nice small compact affair. With the 5,000 capacity main tent being the beating heart at the centre of the site. With the sides off this marque tent making it ideal for people to lay and sit around with their families and friends. Yet still be able to take in the sights and sounds of festival, with the tent playing host to both the main stage, and second stage side by side. This worked a treat, as the music never had to stop for any longer then a few minutes at a time.

Clearly a festival with family attendance in mind there was a wealth of options for kids to keep busy on site, with a very youngster friendly line-up predominantly on the Saturday, headed by JLS.

The first band I caught on the main stage were called Shake Shake Go, and what a way to start the festival, lead singer Poppy Jones belts out the vocals. This girl could really teach Florence and the machine what its like to really sing from your soul with passion, a beautiful sound to accompany the stunning weather. I was very happy to later find out that they also were playing again on the second stage on the Sunday, and I will definitely be keeping an eye out for this band in the future.

Having 3 kids under 12 with me we decided to go for a wander and see what was on offer for them. We found many stalls and activities set up by local charities and foundations which was a real nice touch with a feeling that Osfest was really helping to put back into the local community not just take the money on offer.

There were cake stalls set up to help raise money and awareness for Oswestry Bone Cancer Care, which did a roaring trade over the weekend alongside an activity set up by the Oswestry Community Alcohol Partnership, challenging youngsters and teenagers in particular to complete tasks whilst wearing 'beer goggles' to simulate the effects of being drunk. These included walking along lines on the floor, and playing jenga. You could really see the shock on the youngster's faces as the were falling over the jenga. A real eye opener for some, both these local charities received good support through the weekend which will help them to support the community further.

There was also a huge fun fair to keep the kids occupied when the acts didn't take their fancy. After setting up our tent we returned to the main arena just as Tich took to the stage. The young singer songwriter, who writes very catchy pop songs, has a voice much larger than her tiny frame which is hidden behind her keyboard on stage. She soon brings hordes of people into the tent from their sunbathing outside under the blue sky. Tich was followed on stage by A.M.E, who put on the kind of performance that justify her comparisons to a British version of Beyonce. With the image, voice, and catchy songs, she really impressed the Shropshire crowd in front of the stage, and wasn't afraid to have some fun, wandering around the site, hitting the funfair and taking time to stop for pictures with everyone around Osfest.

With the sun getting lower in the sky and the weather starting to drop it was up to Wiley to bring his 'Heatwave' to the party, and bring it he did in abundance!

Bouncing all around the stage and into the crowd, he had the tent full and begging for more, and the more energy he put into his set the higher the crowd got! Ending the set with a huge rendition of his summer smash hit 'Heatwave', I didn't think it was possible for the crowd to get any louder.

I couldn't of been much farther from the truth, next on stage were Lawson. Not your run of the mill boy band as they played their own instruments. While not usually my cup of tea, to be fair they were very entertaining.

Running parallel to the main stage was the VIP enclosure, where all the bands did meet and greets over the weekend as well which was quite a nice touch, with most bands and artists staying around all day giving many young fans opportunities for pictures and time to chat.

The Saturday was rounded off by a performance by JLS, it seemed a very 'solid & safe' performance which to me sounded very 'note perfect' but was lapped up by all the young fans with girls screaming so loud the roof felt like it almost came off the tent. With a 45-minute set they pulled out all their hits for the fans, whilst plugging their 'Goodbye Tour', which is on sale now.

All in all Saturday was a really nice day, with perfect weather, all the staff were really helpful and friendly, and with a very family friendly line-up I wouldn't hesitate to come back again with the family.

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