FESTIVAL NEWS: Pop-up venue created for Marsden’s 25th jazz festival

Music fans heading to Marsden for next week’s annual jazz festival will be able to enjoy over nine hours of live music for free in a brand new pop-up venue. The festival’s organisers are creating the venue – called Venue 25 – in a marquee outside the village’s 19th century Mechanics Hall as part of the celebrations for the 25th festival.

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Seven gigs will take place in the venue during the weekend, including a street band battle outside the marquee on the Saturday afternoon (8 October) – featuring Orkestra Del Sol, The Firm, Band Baja and Tongues of Fire.

The Monkey Club – a members’ club based in Armitage Bridge – will also be staffing a bar in the pop-up venue throughout the weekend.

The 25th Marsden Jazz Festival, which is being supported by Yorkshire Water and Arts Council England, will also feature the renowned Saturday street parade, an artisan market in Marsden’s Victorian park and over 140 hours of live music.

Festival Producer Barney Stevenson said:

“We wanted to do something special to mark our 25th festival and came up with the idea of creating our own pop-up venue in the centre of the village.

“We’ll have a bar there for the entire weekend if people want to pop in for a quiet drink and there’ll also be seven free gigs taking place on Saturday and Sunday.

“We’ve got some fantastic venues which take part in the jazz festival every year – from pubs and clubs to churches, restored mills and outdoor stages. It’s great to be able to add Venue 25 to the list for our 25th festival.”

A ukuleles thrash-off between Thornhill Junior and Infants School in Dewsbury and members of Marsden Ukeleles Club – Mucipups – will also take place in Venue 25 on Saturday 8 October along with performances by jazz duo Lee Jones and Tim France, and guitar-whizz Shane Latimer.

Sunday’s gigs will feature performances by Marsden’s community jazz band – Marsden Swing, internationally-renowned jazz guitarist Adrian Ingram, and jazz quartet Andchuck.

Over 100 gigs will be taking place during the 25th Marsden Jazz Festival, including over 80 free gigs and events.

Jazz legend Digby Fairweather appeared at Marsden’s first jazz festival in 1992 and tickets for his ‘Rocking in Rhythm’ show alongside BBC Radio 2’s Paul Jones for the 25th festival have already sold out.

Other headliners include ten-piece band Jazz Jamaica, Anglo-American supergroup The Impossible Gentlemen, and Jazz FM Awards 2016 nominee Nérija.

Marsden Jazz Festival was named ‘Outstanding Established Festival’ at the Yorkshire Gig Guide Grassroots Awards 2015, and thousands of music lovers make their way to Marsden by train, bus, car and narrow boat every year for the festival weekend.

This year’s Marsden Jazz Festival is taking place between Friday 7 and Sunday 9 October 2016. Tickets are on sale now and can booked online at www.marsdenjazzfestival.com, by calling 0800 6125 649 (10am-4pm, Monday-Friday), or at the jazz festival office in the library at Marsden Mechanics (10am-4pm, Tuesday-Friday).

The full line-up of over 100 gigs is also available to view at www.marsdenjazzfestival.com/whats-on.

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