Sean Taylor head lining the Friday Night Blues

Knutsford Music Festival Full Programme Announced

Knutsford Music Festival returns with a bang this month with an exciting line up set to take stage and a full programme of fringe events around Knutsford. The three-day festival will take place from 9thth to 11th June with a special pre festival concert on the evening of the 8th.

Festival organisers at the Town Council have arranged a brilliant night of blues and a classical music evening as well as collaborating with BBC Radio’s Mark Radcliffe to bring a line-up of incredible folk music to the festival.

A sold-out special one-off show will kick of the weekend at Thursday 8th at Knutsford Little Theatre with a folk compilation from Mark Radcliffe & Friends.

Friday showcases folk musician Georgia Ruth with support from Chris Fox & John Parker at St Johns Church at 7.30pm. Over at Brook Street Chapel there will be ‘Friday Night Blues’ at 7.30pm featuring Simster & Small Blues Duo, Southern Fried Groove Queens with a headline performance from troubadour Sean Taylor.

During the afternoon of Saturday the 10th there will be a free open to all event on the Moor from 12 – 4pm featuring live music and activities for all ages. In the evening, Katherine Priddy will headline ‘Folk at the Church’ with support from The Weeping Willows.

Sunday’s line up includes the folk performance from Budapest Café Orchestra at Knutsford Little Theatre starting at 7.30pm.

Tickets for all headline events can be purchased via www.knutsfordmusicfestival.com .

Throughout the weekend there will be some fantastic fringe events popping up in establishments throughout Knutsford and Knutsford town centre. With everything from Americana rock to community choirs there will be a gig to suit every musical taste.

The fringe events include;

Friday 9th June
6pm Luson at The Lost & Found
7:30pm Lucas Marks & The Glorious Unknown at The Lost & Found
8pm Nelson Peach at The Angel

Saturday 10th June
11am Knutsford Beats on Regent Street
1pm Phoenix Voices Choir on Regent Street
1pm All Day Music at The Lost & Found
4pm Dexter’s House Jazz Bad at Dexter & Jones
7:30pm Gus Glynn at The Tea Room
And Music all weekend at The Courthouse from The Courthouse Live Sessions

Sunday 11th June
11am Knutsford Star Choir on Regent Street
From 3pm a dynamic selection of music from Simon Sackey, Blue Walker and Kojo

You can now see all events planned on our gig guide: Knutsford Music Festival 2023 Gig Guide.

Kevin Jardine and Knutsford Christie Bears

Charity head shave for Christie Hospital!

A charity head shave at Knutsford Market Hall has raised over £1,500 for Christie Hospital.

Local resident Kevin Jardine volunteered to take part in the head shave, with Pino Tracanna, the Market Hall Barber. The shave took place on Saturday 27th May and was a fitting finale to the market hall’s Love your Local Market fortnight of promotions.

Kevin said, “I was delighted to take part in the charity head shave and raise money for Christie’s. Like many people, I have lost friends and family to cancer, and this is a cause close to my heart. To exceed the target is amazing. I would like to thank everyone who donated, including my friends who didn’t think I had much hair in the first place! A huge thanks to Pino, the market hall barber, the wonderful Christie Bears and Sandra Curties for organising.”

Before the headshave
After the head shave

The charity head shave originally had a target of £750 which was soon exceeded, and the total raised so far stands at £1,560. The shave was run in partnership with local fundraising group Christie Bears. Group member Val Pallister, said, “We loved getting involved in this fundraising event. Kevin was an absolute star. We fundraise throughout the year by holding several events, having a presence at various community events and via our knitting group. Please follow our Facebook page, Christie Bears Knutsford to find out more ”.

It is not too late to donate – the fundraising page is still open and can be found at: https://shorturl.at/aBIQ3

Knutsford Market Hall is open on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 8am to 4pm. Traders are as follows – Style Loft Boutique, The Market Butcher, M&J Cards, Jonty’s Fruit & Veg, The Market Café, Sabrina’s Baby and Toddler Boutique, Slipped Discs, NYX Cat Crystals, Radchester’s Garden Ornaments, The Market Hall Barber and Med Olives. Coming soon is a Thai stall – Kanom Thai.

A group of people standing in Lost and Found

Flash Fashion hailed a success

May 20th saw Knutsford hold its third and most successful to date Flash Fashion event.  The spring sunshine brought residents and visitors alike into the town to shop for the latest spring/summer womenswear.

The day also saw the event’s first catwalk show held at The Lost and Found.  The show was introduced by Councillor Stewart Gardiner and kindly compered by Nikki Cartwright of Detaljer. The models were volunteers or friends of the boutiques taking part with dressers from Knutsford Academy and it proved the perfect way to start the day and the staff at the Lost and Found were the consummate hosts providing welcome drinks and discounted breakfast for guests.

Sandra Curties, Town Centre Manager, said, “This was our first catwalk show and it was lovely to see the venue packed out – it was standing room only when the show commenced – with people enjoying their goody bags and taking photos of their favourite outfits, before venturing into town.”

Pauline Leadbetter, owner of Chalk 33 on King Street said, “This was my third Flash Fashion event and the most successful.  My customers enjoyed the fashion show and as soon as it finished my shop was busy all day with new and existing customers.  The day raised awareness of the Chalk 33 brand. What a lovely day for Knutsford.”

Roberta Dyer, of Roberta Beauty Redefined said, “We really enjoyed taking part in this event on both a personal and professional level! I tried my hand at modelling for The Edit for the catwalk show and afterwards had pop-ups at both Cocaranti and Willow Boutiques.  This worked great for both raising awareness of the Roberta brand and selling the Dermalogica range.  All in all, a fantastic day, and a true collaborative event across the town’s boutiques”

A selfie frame was placed in Cotton Shop Yard for shoppers to enjoy and a competition was run in partnership with Pulse of Perfumery for the ’best selfie’ taken on the day. This was won by local resident Lauren Leach who is to collect her bottle of fragrance from the King Street Perfumier direct.

Sandra Curties, continued, “We have received extremely positive feedback from everyone involved on the day.  We do these events to raise the profile of Knutsford as a shopping destination, increase footfall in the town, increase both revenue, and brand awareness for those involved and so far, it seems all criteria was met.”

Flash Fashion was sponsored by Knutsford Dry Cleaners which is celebrating its 30th year in business this year.  Mobberley Dental practice sponsored the catwalk show.