A bunch of the best Leeds-based bands have just announced they will be playing the Forest of Galtres Festival (York) over the August Bank Holiday weekend alongside The Charlatans, British Sea Power the Levellers.

Hope & Social (pictured), Eureka Machines, Club Smith, Middleman, and Tomorrow We Sail are among the Leeds bands selected to play at Yorkshire’s top family festival at Crayke, near York. They will join 100 bands playing over three days on five stages, plus a huge beer and cider festival, a night cabaret, comedy tent, family fun, fabulous food and beautiful camping.

Said festival director James Houston: “We’re very excited to have such a strong contingent from West Yorkshire this year – there’s some very good music coming out of Leeds and it will be a real asset to our festival. A lot of people come to the lovely Galtres Festival from West Yorkshire, often to escape from a certain other festival the same weekend, so we’re really pleased that these fine bands from Leeds will be joining our tremendous line-up.”

The brilliant Sisters of Mercy guitarist Chris Catalyst will be playing with Eureka Machines on their Saturday main stage slot, which is headlined by The Charlatans. Hope & Social and Club Smith also play the Saturday, with Middleman on Sunday in the build up to the Levellers. Friday night is headlined by British Sea Power with Puressence and Mostly Autumn supporting.

The madcap ArtsBarge crew will be back at Galtres this year in force, bringing us cabaret, theatre, music, wondrous wackiness, frills and frolics, and a good cup of tea too. ClayFish will return, contributing magic, drama, film-making, the G-FACTOR young talent show, and even a yo-yo workshop.

Entry costs just £60 for a weekend ticket or £36 for the day so it must be one of the best-priced festivals ever, in the setting of a wonderful hilltop arena overlooking the Vale and City of York. John Otway, Chris Helme (Seahorses), and The Men They Couldn’t Hang are also on the billing.

See http://www.galtresfestival.org.uk/downloads/programme.pdf for the full bands programme download.

By Andy on July 26, 2011