Paul, one of the organisers of the annual Local & Live Music Festival taking place from the August 26th -29th 2022 in Calverley Grounds, The Forum and other venues across Royal Tunbridge Wells, announces the headline acts and delicious local food vendors you will find at the event!

The free music festival, now in its 17th year is a regular annual fixture in the town’s cultural calendar. Local & Live has become a popular weekend for picnicking in the park, attracting all generations from young families to the more senior music fans. It features the cream of the local area’s original musical talent and artists already confirmed include Marie White, The Ackerleys, David Migden & The Twisted Roots, Cyrano, Mike Wilton Band and many more!  It begins on the evening of Friday 26th August at 5pm and focuses on a purpose-built stage in Calverley Grounds, the beautiful Decimus Burton-designed park in the town centre. The music continues in the park through Saturday (27th 12noon) till 10pm) and Sunday (28th 12noon to 10pm). The Forum will be hosting afterparties every night after the music finishes in Calverley Grounds hosting an array of local bands until late each night. To accompany the music in Calverley Grounds, there will be 2 main bars ran by The Forum and The George Pub and a selection of local food traders traders including Fine Grind, Crumbs & Treacle, Naked & Ready Foods, Sankeys, Food Comes First, Alices Ices, Rascals Pizzas, Delaney’s Crepes and Pancakes and Mother Bhumi Organic Vegan. All the traders will be serving an array of wonderful foods to suit everyone’s tastes. The bank holiday Monday is known as ‘Fringe Day’ and we are delighted to announce that The Forum will be continuing to host Local & Live artists from 2pm through to late with local band Kumala headlining at 9.30pm. The Sussex Mews will be our main outdoor stage location with an array of Local & Live acts performing music from 2pm until 8.15pm. Move Over Dali headline The Sussex Mews stage at 7.30pm.

As the Festival has grown in both reputation and size, it also draws visitors from the length and breadth of the UK and Europe. Local & Live brings together a collective audience in the region of 15,000 people to enjoy the music and a relaxed family friendly festival atmosphere over the August Bank Holiday weekend. Local resident and front man of The Bluetones, Mark Morriss recently gave his official take on the festival “Local & Live has established itself as an essential hub for uniting musicians and fans of all generations and genres in the area of Tunbridge Wells. We are so lucky to have it.” Iconic Rock legend, Roger Daltrey CBE of The Who is a long-term supporter of the festival and commented “Local & Live is a fantastic platform for independent, original music in Kent & Sussex, long may it continue!”

Headline acts announced! 

We are delighted to announce that local duo DULL KNIFE will be headlining on the Friday evening at Calverley Grounds, with 6 other local acts taking to the stage in the build up to their set, Friday promises to be a rockin’ affair with All the Above and Mike Wilton Band also on the bill. Dull Knife are renowned for their inspiring grunge laden rock songs and have been described as Royal Blood meets The White Stripes and they will certainly rock Calverley Grounds to its knees! Saturday kicks off with music from 12noon all the way through to 10pm. Local 4 piece ‘SUNCHARMER’ top the bill with TWO WEEKS IN NASHVILLE as main support. Both acts recently performed at Pub In The Park supporting the likes of Faithless and Supergrass and are renowned for their high energy, infectious riff laden indie pop/rock style and will undoubtedly bring day two to a climactic finish. Local & Live is thrilled to announce that NOBLE JACKS will be headlining Sunday night at Calverley Grounds. The popular local group led by front man Will page have been wowing crowds across the UK and beyond with their raucous foot stomping alt-folk music and they stole the show at the recent Black Deer Festival with an incredible performance on the main stage. With music again starting at midday Sunday offers an array of superb local acts including the likes of Steffan James, The Ackerleys, Marie White, The Orange Circus and more….all paving the way for The Noble Jacks to strut their stuff!

Thanks for all your support and interest and roll-on Calverley Grounds!  You can find us at @localandlive on Facebook and Instagram and @Local_and_Live on twitter and the festival website is www.localandlive.org