IT’S been hailed as the best Morton Stanley Festival ever – and thousands of people turned out to enjoy a weekend of great music and displays from local businesses and community groups.
An estimated 8,500 residents and visitors turned out for the event, which featured a foot stomping line-up, a cracking fireworks display on the Saturday night and also glorious weather which eventually broke as the curtain came down on the weekend.
In fact closing band Arcadia Roots were so good most of the crowd defied the rain to enjoy what was a cracking set.
Other highlights included the brilliant boogie woogie of the Emma Jonson Quartet – she’s local to Birmingham and if you missed her make a date to catch one of her city gigs – Arcadia Roots were absolutely excellent while Gathering of Strangers may well have stolen the show.
Also worth checking out are the Zoe Green Band and Jeremiah Ferrari while Redditch’s very own Stuart Woolfenden continues to shine.
Councillor Pat Witherspoon, whose portfolio covers Leisure Services, said: “Thank you to everyone who came to Morton Stanley Festival last weekend! It was the best one yet and a huge well done to everyone involved in organising it.
“It was good to see such a variety of stalls with new exhibitors like the world famous kite maker and vintage clothing. It was a brilliant event and as always the perfect opportunity for traders, local bands, charities and community groups to showcase and provide a fabulous day out for residents and visitors.
“We would like to continue putting on this excellent event for years to come but need to make sure it’s exactly what our residents and visitors want, so I would encourage everyone – whether you attended this year or not – to complete the survey below and tell us what you like or what you might do differently.”
A wide array of stalls and activities were on offer including a featured DJ tent by sponsors Locked In Radio, Wilson’s Fair, classic car display, firework display and cuisine from around the world with a mini food festival. There was even a group of ‘nuns’ that made an appearance and joined in the fun.
Now, the council are looking to get feedback from residents and visitors – whether they attended this year’s festival or not – to find out what they think and how they would like it to look in the future. It is hoped that the survey will allow officers to gather some data around what visitors did or didn’t enjoy, ideas for future festivals and what stopped them attending if they didn’t go this year.
The survey should take no more than five minutes to complete and is available at www.redditchbc.gov.uk/consultations and is open for responses until 9am on Tuesday, August 29.
