Latest news with #BrightenTheCorners
BBC News
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Ipswich's Brighten the Corners festival: Who is playing?
Brighten the Corners festival has returned to Ipswich for its seventh multi-venue event runs across Friday and Saturday and celebrates great music while bringing people together. This year's event has tens of artists lined up to perform across five different venues, and there are also talks Neal, director of the festival, encouraged everyone to visit all the venues across the two days. What venues are participating? Five Ipswich venues will be holding live music across the two are: Corn Exchange on King StreetThe Baths on Civic DriveSt Stephen's Church on St Stephens Church Lane The Smokehouse on South StreetThe CornhillThe Cornhill is a free to attend public stage that will showcase regional are required for the other venues participating in the festival. What music will be on? English post-punk band Dry Cleaning is one of the headline acts and will perform at the Corn Exchange on Mobo award-winning two-piece known as Bob Vylan similarly headline the Corn Exchange on Saturday, just off the back of playing Coachella festival in Ipswich band Afterdrive will perform as well as electronic duo DREGS, who similarly hail from of other artists can be enjoyed, which are all detailed on the festival Neal said more and more artists were approaching the festival organisers themselves, asking to perform, while more agents were "believing in Ipswich"."A lot of our artists this year are of a higher profile and they've been doing other shows and festivals across the country," he said."We didn't have to look so hard for these artists, they're coming to us, which is really cool." What industry workshops are on? A talk programme has also been scheduled on Saturday at King Street Cinema."This year we've got Simon Raymonde who runs Bella Union Records, we've also got Gruff Rhys and really excited to have OneDa who is a Manchester-born MC, she'll be doing an in conversation session as well," Mr Neal Raymonde will be in conversation from 12:00 BST, while there will be a Q&A with Gruff Rhys from 13: will be another in conversation session with OneDa from 14:00. What food is there? There will be food vendors across the festival and at each the Cornhill, Just A Burger, Rambling Roots, Otis Breading and Brewvan will all be in Smokehouse will have The Little Pizza Oven on offer and at St Stephen's Church, The Latin Table will be local restaurants and cafes will also offer discounts to wristband holders, including Moto Pizza, Three Wise Monkeys, Honey & Harvey and others. What else do I need to know? Once you have bought a ticket for the event, you must collect your wristband from the festival box office at Ancient House in festival warns, however, that the wristband does not guarantee entry due to small capacities at some of the venues, which could reach capacity. Ticket holders must be above the age of 14, and those aged between 14 and 15 must be accompanied by an adult at the indoor venues. As well as this, there is a no-entry policy for 14 to 17-year-olds in venues past is no age restriction, however, for those attending the free Cornhill venues are wheelchair accessible, and it is a cashless festival. Follow Suffolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Ipswich teenagers arrange music festival and learn new skills
Young people getting hands on experience of putting on gigs and festivals have spoken of a town's "beautiful community" of bands, venues and Up, a programme run by Brighten the Corners (BTC) in Ipswich, offers 10 free weekly sessions for 16 to 25-year-olds covering music production, programming, marketing and event are working towards putting on a two-day festival in Holland, 17, said: "I now go to gigs and truly understand what's happening behind the scenes, the effort that's put into it - it's such an art form." Ahead of the BTC festival in June, London-based electronic trio MADMADMAD are due to headline a launch party on Friday at St Stephen's Joscelyne, 18, helped select and book the band and will be part of the Tune Up team managing the event on the said: "It's kind of dance, there's a little bit of guitar elements and there is a bit of rock... lots of drums. "It's very instrumental, I think it's perfect for a launch party 'cos it's quite upbeat. It's quite lively." Growing cultural scene BTC is a not-for-profit group that runs three venues in the town centre: The Baths (300 capacity), St Stephen's Church (200 capacity) and The Smokehouse (70 capacity).Along with the annual festival in June, there is also a new partnership for 2025 with Ipswich Central - the town's business improvement organisation - for a new free-to-attend festival in was in the music spotlight recently with platinum-selling rapper AJ Tracey performing at the Baths and Ed Sheeran renamed a pub for a surprise gig ahead of his Portman Road concerts in the summer. Jack Polanczuk-Jones, 16, said: "I've been learning how to mix live sound, being an artist liaison and how the touring system works."Bailey Ewers-Smith, 22, said: "This being a local festival in Suffolk, you're not in a field somewhere and it's miles away from your house - this is close by."If you're a local, and you love music, give it go!"Jett Aiello, 17, is encouraging others to join the programme: "Just go for it! You come along to the group and you find this community. "It's nothing but welcoming." Follow Suffolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
