KEMPfest Goes Green L-R: KEMP Hospice Event fundraiser Shelley Stanley and KEMPfest volunteers Jess Shaw and Fin Evans
Kidderminster based KEMP Hospice are adding ‘green’ to the line-up of their colourful KEMPfest celebration music festival this summer.
The charity, which is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary this year, are hosting a day long family-friendly music festival on Sunday 18th August at SHED Food & Drink’s festival field in Crossway Green near Stourport. It features live performances from chart-topper Max George formerly of the band The Wanted, 80s icons Fuzzbox, Sweet Female Attitude and Wyre Forest acts such as The Institutions, Meg Shaw, Secret Cabaret, Chloe Mogg, Queen With Two Heads, and Kev from cult local band The Murmur.
The charity are planning to be as environmentally friendly as possible by using as much ‘green’ resources as they can. This includes teaming up with local eco-champions the Wyre Forest litter-picking community group The Pick-Up Artists, hosting clothes recycling points on site, using eco-friendly toilets, selling drinks in specially created festival glasses that are environmentally sound and using only local suppliers for staging and lighting to reduce the events carbon footprint.
Festival volunteer co-organiser Rob Stride said that going green was an important part of putting on KEMP’s anniversary music festival: “We want to make this a great day for everyone. It’s KEMP’s golden anniversary so there will be great music, great family entertainment, great food, drink, and we want everyone coming along to respect the environment too. Our festival is set in a lovely rural location and we want to do everything we can to minimise the impact on our surroundings, which is why we are working with eco-friendly companies. We have teamed up local businesses Griff Communications and Ocean Events Limited who are sponsoring our commemorative festival glasses, and these have been specially produced by a company called Green Goblet who are passionate about creating sustainable products. Seeing Sir David Attenborough at this year’s Glastonbury festival and also watching his Blue Planet series inspires us to do whatever we can to make KEMPfest as green as we can. We need to look after our planet, and we hope everyone that comes along will do their bit too. It’s going to be a great day out for the whole family and we can’t wait to go gold and green this August!”
Organisers of KEMPfest say that alongside a day of live music there will also be a stand-up comedy tent, family activities such as rides, penalty shoot-outs with Kidderminster Harriers, a ‘Teach Me Music’ tent for people to ‘have a go at performing live’ and learn to play instruments, festival retailers, a real ale tent, appearances from BBC Midlands Today presenter Beccy Wood and Nina Das Gupta, radio station Signal 107 featuring Dicky Dodd, plus more more.
KEMPfest will take place at SHED Food & Drink at Crossway Green on Sunday 18th August between 12noon and 10pm and tickets are on sale via KEMP Hospice’s website: www.kemphospice.org.uk/kempfest. Adult tickets cost £15.00, Young Adult tickets (aged 10-17years) cost £10.00, children under 10 are free, a KEMPfest Family Pass (2 Adults, 2 Young Adults) costs £40.00, parking is £5.00 per vehicle and a shuttle bus will be available throughout the day picking up at key locations across the district.
KEMP Hospice provides free-of-charge specialist care and support to people across the Wyre Forest who are dealing with life-limiting illness and bereavement.
