Local & Live Music Festival 2010

Where to start with this classic event? Well … it runs over the three day August Bank Holiday weekend every year and is held at The Pantiles, Tunbridge Wells’ pedestrianised Georgian precinct. It’s organised by a guy called Paul Dunton whose support for local musicians is close to obsessive. He runs two gigs a week at The Grey Lady already and then has this event where local bands play original music for free to maybe 1000 people all weekend. I mean 12 or so hours a day of organised free music in a beautiful location — what a civic superstar!!! He even gets use of the bandstand! The result is a happy crowd of dancing, drinking, eating people packing out the Pantiles and stuffing every retailers tills with Bank Holiday cash, all listening to a diet of non cover version songs by their peers. IT IS FANTASTIC!!! The last couple of years they’ve even given out free compilation CDs of the various artists. Yes, free!!! I cannot recommend you attend enough. My favourite combo? Easy. Origami Dinosaur. Funky/​rocky/​kooky excellence. You MUST make time to come along.