Isle of Wight’s inaugural urban based music festival is already creating a lot of buzz and it has now been announced that The Parrots, the garage rock band, will be coming to the Isle from Spain to play a special set during the festival.
On August 11, there will be intimate performances in warehouses, churches and rooftops that run along the Ventnor Fringe and these will be hosted by The Ventnor International Festival.
Moses Boyd, who won the award for ‘Best Jazz Act’ at the MOBO Awards will also be present on the day in question and will be bringing his unique one-man drum/electronic project. Cosmo Pyke, South London’s latest export will also be joining the performers at the festival. This will mean that they will be joining a lineup that was already looking quite promising with the likes of Girl Ray, Her’s, Puma Blue, Elder Island, Happyness and Bad Sounds all scheduled to perform during the festival.
The festival is the brainchild of Ventnor Exchange, a locally based record store and arts space and the founders of the festival are hoping that it will become the place to be for people who are looking to watch bands that are destined for great things. The event was promoted to both the public and the industry and is promising to provide a different kind of festival experience on the Isle of Wight. Jack Whitewood, the director at Ventnor Exchange, spoke about the upcoming festival and he says that people will not have to worry about the poor sound systems and mud that they usually find during other festivals. He described the festival as a place to watch intimate performances from some of the best new bands that are out there.
He also stated that they had put in a lot of effort to bring in performers from all across the UK and even acts from abroad that are keen to help them to shape the island’s special musical history that is only just starting. He also added that they were quite ambitious and were hoping that with the festival, they will be able to keep the spotlight on the island with regard to festival destinations. There will also be a programme being offered by Ventnor Fringe which will be running from August 8th to 13th and will involve film, visual arts, comedy and theatre.