Member Article

Tyneside Festival Praises Music Fans

As the dust settles on a memorable Chase Park Festival, festival organiser Alistair McDonald has praised the thousands of music fans who got behind the region’s all-inclusive family event.

Music fans witnessed spell-binding performances from Irish rock legends Ash, Turin Breaks and Sunderland Outfit SLUG on a blistering hot day on Tyneside this month.

Organisers now say the festival has paved the way for others to follow and believes making live music affordable and accessible for everyone is achievable and a must.

Chase Park was back with a bang last in August having been awarded the esteemed Gold level of Attitude is Everything’s Charter of Best Practice, one of only three festivals nationwide to receive the accolade.

The award recognises Chase Park’s wide range of access facilities and inclusive initiatives that the festival has embraced in welcoming deaf and disabled audiences, artists and volunteers. The only two other festivals to hold the Gold accolades are Glastonbury and Liberty Festival.

Reflecting on the event’s finest line-up of music to date, an emotional Alistair McDonald, said: “Chase Park Festival 2015 was the biggest and best event yet! I’m thrilled to have had such a great turn out to enjoy some amazing entertainment and atmosphere.

“I was proud to have seen people of all abilities performing and rocking together. I genuinely don’t think I’ve seen such a great crowd partying together, without any barriers to having a great time.

“I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who attended, it means a lot that we sold out and hopefully we can build on the huge success of this year’s event.

“I hope that we have shown that you can put things in place to ensure everyone can enjoy music without barriers. We can come back stronger, bigger, more accessible and better next time around.”

The family-friendly, open-air festival featured two stages of live music and featured appearances from Irish legends Ash, London’s chart-topping indie folk foursome Turin Brakes, Sunderland’s Field Music-backed outfit SLUG, Glasgow’s post-pop assemble Monogram and Newcastle’s soul singing sensation, Beth Macari.

Festival organisers Keiro has said it is delighted to have re-established a much loved North East musical gathering, following funding from the Arts Council.

Meanwhile festival partner Irwin Mitchell - a national leading law firm - said the event was a genuine success story for the North East.

Kate Nicklin, a specialist serious injury lawyer at Irwin Mitchell who attended Chase Park, added: “The festival was a massive success, everyone had a really great day and we managed to raise some important funds for the Child Brain Injury Trust at our sponsors stall.

“Chase Park Festival is a real success story for the region and has made accessing music festivals possible for those with disabilities and we are very proud to be part of that. We’ve been running our own Access All Areas mystery shopper campaign throughout the summer at other music venues and festivals as it’s important that the industry becomes more inclusive.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Jane Crosby .