Solfest 206

26th –28th August 2016, The Tarns, Near Aspatria, Cumbria

Cumbria’s brightest and best music and arts festival, Solfest is delighted to announce another wave of the delightfully diverse and exciting range of artists who will grace the many stages and have you up and dancing at Solfest this summer.

As well as the many wonderful acts already lined up for the delectation of the Solfest audience in 2016 including The Craig Charles Funk & Soul Club, The Mouse Outfit, Dreadzone, Radical Dance Faction, Baka Beyond, Zion Train Riot Jazz, K.O.G & The Zongo Brigade, Inner Terrestrials, Sonny Wharton, King Bee, Resonators , Buffalo Brothers, Irration Steppas, The After Hours Quintet, Hallouminati and many many more we can now announce the addition of a sheer cornucopia of musical delights in the shape of:

Fitty Gomash, Scogan's Run, Bill Lloyd, Bag Of Spanners, Tantz , Baxter Rhodes & Friends, Sam Robinson & Friends, Maelor Hughes, D’Bleedin’ Blaggards, Trevor Roots, Samson Sounds, Jinx In Dub, Drum Machine,Age Of Glass, Henge, Mighty Oak Soundsystem, Celt Islam, Crystal Distortion, SP23, Mutanta, Dohnut, Free Wise Men, Maxiroots, Unity Sessions, Ring The Alarm, Vital Techniques, Dirtbox, Operation Sound System, Hypo, The Templebys, Fat Albert, Dead Horse Gang, Sol Y Sombra, Dansi, Seamless, TZ, , Good Foxy, Rev Dread, Uncle Carbunkle, Samurai Breaks, Trinity Lo Fi, Trash Manor DJs, Zom-B, Mosienko Project, Dicky Flowers, The Soul Upsetter, Jagerossa, Samantha Loveridge, Flew The Arrow, Paul Thornton, Hardcore Gnomes, The Urbanizer & Doink, Underground Roots, The Fusion Brothers, The Hobo, Nema-Kuta, Bluejam Youth Music Project, Boomdang, Dub Wild, Galvatron, The Farmer, Simitu, Papa Shanti, The Broux, Stig Of The Dub, Strawberry Jam Soundsystem, Home Grown, Jayney Mac,Panjenix, Professor Pumpernickle, Mr Kipling, Chantelle Barrow, Dubbers, Cumfy, Beach Club & Relic, LSD Licious, Ben Gates Sound Sculptures and Catholic Abuse Apology.

And of course that is on top of the previously announced
Lyons & La Zel, Jenna & The G’s, King Yoof, Firepit Collective, The Hey Down Treaders, Tanante West African Drummers , La La & The Boo Ya, Rory Connor Band, A Man About A Dog, Phil Saunders, DJM, Righteous Bees, China Shop Bull, Supa & Da Kryptonites, Kathrine Ashcroft, Silicone Soul, Graeme Reedie, Hardwicke Circus , Bushrocker Hi Fi, Skayaman , Dolphin Boy, Bad Transmissions, Blast Furness Carnival Band, John Players Specials, The Most Ugly Child, Jambeater Soundsystem, Red Eye Hi Fi, Gemma Furbank, Kryso, Axis Soundsystem , 10 Foot Wizard, Blanty

As ever Solfest offers a dazzling array of entertainment across practically every musical genre. If you don’t hear something that you like move along to another venue and try another taste of the Solfest experience. And we have stages galore including Drystone Stage, The Solway Bar, Unity Sessions, Lost’n’Found, Loungevity, The Love Shack, House Of Joy, Melodrome and Stylus featuring everything from folk to house, hip-hop to reggae, dub to soul, ska to Afrobeat…You get the picture?

Solfest bounced back on a smaller scale and with a new, fresher attitude last year after taking a well deserved one year break after a decade. Solfest wanted to “return to our roots” with a more intimate event, but retaining the key features that has made it so popular over the past twelve years. And of course it worked with glorious music, fantastic weather and 2015 weighing in as one of the most successful and enjoyable Solfest’s to date.

Solfest director Tom Kay explains: “Last year we made a conscious decision to distance our festival from more commercial events, moving away from big headline names in order to put our resources into giving people the best festival experience over a full weekend rather than just a couple of hours each evening. As always we aim to keep prices down, avoiding hidden extras like over the top booking fees, extra charges for vehicles and camping. We’ll still allow you to bring your own booze and still charge sensible prices at our bars, which means that you get a fantastic weekend without breaking the bank.

“Solfest is a festival run by festival goers, between us, we’ve seen it all, from huge events with hundreds of thousands of people to tiny first time parties with just a few hundred revellers. We like to think this gives us a unique insight into what makes a great festival tick.”

Solfest has evolved continually since its inception in 2003, transitioning from a local shindig, into one of the best loved of the UK’s independent festivals. Run by a dedicated team and a small army of volunteers, Solfest has stayed true to its anti-corporate roots. This means that art and decor take the place of ubiquitous advertising and the international big names don’t drown out the voices of the hidden gems.

Solfest takes place at Tarns, near Aspatria, over the bank holiday weekend August 26-28.

Ticket prices range from £15 for children’s tickets to £89 for a full adult weekend. For full details see our website

Tickets will be available to purchase right on our very own brand new updated website www.solfest.org.uk

For more information, go to the Solfest Facebook page www.facebook.com/Solfest or www.solfest.org.uk