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Wey Fest

31st August - 2nd September 2012
The Rural Life Centre
Reeds Road
Tilford     GU10  2DL
http://www.weyfest.co.uk/
Tickets from Chiddingfold Post Office

Weyfest 2012 brings together an amazing selection of British rock legends, classic pop groups and the best of the UK's blues and folk artists to provide a sensational musical backdrop to a wonderful family friendly weekend in a uniquely beautiful Surrey setting.

The inherently quaint and picturesque setting of The Rural Life Centre in Tilford, an open air museum and living celebration of English country life of old, opens it's doors once again to the colourful mix of music lovers, hippies, real ale enthusiasts, families and hardened festival goers that make up the always friendly Weyfest audience for the last great outdoor festival of the summer from August 31st to 2nd September.

Weyfest is well loved for the holiday atmosphere, the fascinating museum exhibits and displays, the excellent selection of food stalls and bars, music workshops, craft stalls, kids activities - and there's even a working light steam and diesel railway that runs throughout the festival around the perimeter of the venue. But the major attraction of Weyfest year on year is the incredible musical line-up on show at what remains a determinedly and deliberately "small" festival. Everything is compact, no walking miles from stage to stage, no endless queues for food or drink or - VERY importantly - the toilets! It's small, it's neat, and it's perfectly formed!
Weyfest 2012 is no exception. Headliners on Sunday are Asia, returning with the original star-studded line up of Steve Howe, John Wetton, Carl Palmer and Geoff Downes. On Saturday Graham Gouldman brings his timeless 10cc to the show, performing his amazing selection of songs he's written for 10cc and many others in his long and successful career. His 10cc hits of course include the classics The Wall Street Shuffle , I'm Not In Love, I'm Mandy, Fly Me, Art For Art's Sake , The Things We Do For Love, Rubber Bullets and Dreadlock Holiday but he also wrote For Your Love, Heart Full of Soul and Evil Hearted You for The Yardbirds, Bus Stop and Look Through Any Window for The Hollies, No Milk Today and Listen People for Herman's Hermits amongst many others. Truly one of England's great song-writers
The Hoosiers offer a rather more contemporary sound, most notably their two Top 10 hits (so far) Something About Ray and Worried About Mr A, whilst Go West are also on hand to demonstrate that not only have they produced some of the classiest pop songs of the 80's but they have always been a powerful and musically brilliant live band.
Back to heavy rock with the new rock super-group Snakecharmer, formed by members of Whitesnake, Thunder, Magnum and Wishbone Ash. Add to that the presence of two of the premier English rock guitarists in the form of Steve Hackett (ex of Genesis) and Martin Barre, guitarist with Jethro Tull for the last 43 years and recently voted in the Top 20 all-time guitarists and best solo for the immortal Aqualung. Barre brings his new band New Day to perform classic Jethro Tull material. Curved Air, with the ever-lovely Sonja Kristina still at the helm are back at Weyfest literally by public demand, as is the "vixen of the violin" Anna Phoebe, hot on the heels of her stints with TSO, Oi Va Voi, Jethro Tull and Roxy Music.
As always Blues is well represented at Weyfest, with the boogie-woogie thrills of Mike Sanchez, the dazzling rockabilly of The Wildcards, Steve Roux and The Brass Knuckle Blues Band, Sam Kelly and Jackie McAuley (ex of Them and The Poormouth), and plenty of folk and acoustic artists perform on The Rustic and Old Kiln Stages whilst After The Fire, Little Johnny England, the amazing Rodney Branigan, True Deceivers, Freeway Jam and Tir Na Nog hold court on the main stages. And of course Weyfest just wouldn't be Weyfest without the crowd favourites Leatherat and Jackie Lynton. Leatherat are fast establishing themselves as one of the premier folk-rock bands in the country, taking major festivals by storm whenever they play, and their mutual love affair with Weyfest continues unabated. And, well, what can you say about Jackie Lynton? Over 50 years in the business, has recorded and fronted bands with the likes of Richie Blackmore, Jimmy Page, Albert Lee, Big Jim Sullivan, Screaming Lord Sutch, Ian Anderson and Martin Barre, Rick Parfitt.... the list is endless. Still rockin'n'rollin, still cracking outrageous jokes, and still one of the finest rock singers you will ever hear. A living legend and we love him
! There are as always some excellent up-and-coming bands on display also, notably the quirky and highly entertaining The Great Malarkey and a superb young Reggae/Ska band Buster Shuffle, along with the mighty heavy reggae sound of The Rhythmites.
As important to Weyfest as the legendary names are, the best of the local talent is a vital ingredient of our local festival. The brilliant Julia K, The True Deceivers, Solid Juice Band, Grand Mort and many others from the local area will demonstrate the amazing wealth of talent on our own doorstep.
Many other bands are playing throughout the weekend on the four stages. Too numerous to mention, but full details are on the website at www.weyfest.co.uk. The weekend kicks off at 6pm on Friday 2nd September with the traditional 'party night', this year featuring The Wildcards with their fiery mix of rhythm'n'blues and rockabilly, The Joe Johnston Band and The Chocolatiers featuring John Carter. Weyfest is so much more than a music festival; it's more like a mini-holiday with plenty to occupy adults and children alike....where else can you watch such great bands whilst mingling with Daleks, Stormtroopers and other sci-fi characters? They even have Dr Who's original TARDIS on display!

Weyfest runs from 6pm Friday 31st August until 10.30 pm Sunday 2nd September. Three Day, Weekend and single day tickets are now available from www.weyfest.co.uk and from many local record shops, Guildford Tourist Centre, Farnham Maltings and other outlets. Camping is available and parking is free. Tickets MAY be available on the day, but we strongly advise pre-booking.... it IS an amazing line-up after all!

 

  From Weyfest web site