Solfest 2011

A non-commercial music and arts festival with a warm atmosphere set between the Solway Firth and the Lake District mountains in picturesque West Cumbria, as always it features a massive range of musical and cultural adventures.

The eighth Solfest takes place over August Bank Holiday weekend from Friday 26th to Sunday 28th August, 2011 and offers something for everyone, with a main stage, dance tent, second stage with many smaller acts, and a children's area with workshops to amaze, educate and enthral kids and adults throughout the day.

Line-up

Acts announced are The Stranglers, Cast, The Saw Doctors, The Damned, Kate Rusby, Camille O'Sullivan, Freestylers, Utah Saints, Plump DJs, Wilko Johnson, Mostly Autumn, Lau, Kanda Bongo Man, Po' Girl, The Travelling Band, Bikini Beach Band, Pikey Beatz, Room Full of Owls, Rory McLeod, 3 Daft Monkeys, Sharks Took The Rest, Super Best Friends Club, The Blind Hearts, Mostly Acoustic Cumbria, and more. For the line-up details as available please click here.

Tickets

The early bird allocation has sold out. An adult ticket is priced at £89 and a young persons (aged 12-16 years) is priced at £62, a child (aged 6-11 years) is priced at £25, and children aged up to 5 years can attend free. There are no booking fees. To buy tickets, click here.

Ethos

The festival policy is "to appeal to four generations of people, from the tiny babies through to the great-grannies and great-granddads (and everyone else in between) and have them all partying together at the same time – and lovin' it!"

On site

Solfest is expected to include free camping (quiet and noisy!); free parking (next to your tent); plenty of food from around the world; a licensed bar (or you can bring your own); sculptures; a healing area; adult workshops where you can try things such as belly dancing and wood turning; craft stalls; walkabout performances and theatre; a baby area; fire performances; an acoustic music session tent, and friendly and helpful stewards.

CNN

CNN return for a 6th year at Solfest, and will be bringing all the mayhem of Madame Bibelot's House of Phantasmagorical Delights back for a second year, this time with Professor Fromaggio's Cocktail Bar, the Cabaret of Cunning Stunts, The Miniature Palace Cinema, The Misspent Youth Club, The Hall of Curiosities, and The Internationally Renowned Bedlam Boudoir. By day, the CNN area is a warped pseudo-Victorian travelling fair, with a host of extra-ordinary characters including Madame Dairylea's uncanny fortune telling, The flea circus, Coconut shy, Peepshows, Thumb wrestling championships, workshops and more.

The Solfest Workshop programme offers a wide range of activities to educate and inspire with Inta Africa, Zoe Sawane, Justin and Nici, Baka Beyond's Su Hart, Kerry Wright, Maureen Morano, Capoeira, and Zumba Cumbria.

For kids

Solfest has an action packed kids area for children of all ages, from the Baby Chill-Out with facilities for feeding, changing and resting.

Plus painting drop-in sessions, circus skills, musical workshops, craft workshops, ultraviolet sandpit, wood lathes and green woodworking, facepainters, songs and stories, Hula Hooping workshops, water play, bubbles, and other toys and activities.

For older kids and teens expect the return of the Trailer Trash Games Emporium, a mobile youth club featuring activities like table football, table tennis and other games and activities.

Early entry

Last year the 'Shoreside' field (Noisy Camping) was open for public access between the hours of 5pm and 10pm on Thursday evening. There was no access to the main festival field or any of the other camping fields until the Friday.

Walkabouts

This year's planned Walkabouts will also be the talk of Solfest, with Pandemonium's gangster rodents, a family of beach bums, and a festy bus. There'll be tales from Taffy Thomas, while the Storytree itself will keep the yarn spinning all weekend. There's the Rambling Shadow, The Fearless Brothers and Precious Cargo, the Badge Pirates will be running a workshop and community arts company, Blue Jam will form a roaming samba band.

More information will be here when available.

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