The Brentwood Festival is an annual

music festival A music festival is a community event with performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock, blues, folk, jazz, classical music), nationality, locality of musicians, or h ...

held at the Brentwood Centre in

Brentwood, Essex Brentwood is a town in the Borough of Brentwood, in the county of Essex in the East of England. It is in the London commuter belt, situated 20 miles (30 km) east-north-east of Charing Cross and close by the M25 motorway. In 2017, the popula ...

every July. The festival donates a share of its proceeds to charity, and has raised a total of £120,000 for various causes. As well as live music, the festival hosts a selection of over 100

real ale Real ale is the name coined by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) for beer that is "brewed from traditional ingredients, matured by secondary fermentation in the container from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of extraneous car ...

s, a food market, fairground rides and additional activities for children. The festival evolved from a smaller event at the White Horse pub in Coxtie Green near the town, and has steadily grown to its current size, with over 12,000 attending the 2014 event. The 2013 festival featured Chas 'n' Dave and former

Jam Jam is a type of fruit preserve. Jam or Jammed may also refer to: Other common meanings * A firearm malfunction * Block signals ** Radio jamming ** Radar jamming and deception ** Mobile phone jammer ** Echolocation jamming Arts and entertai ...

bassist

Bruce Foxton Bruce Douglas Foxton (born 1 September 1955) is an English singer, songwriter and musician. Foxton's music career spans more than 40 years. He came to prominence in the late 1970s as bassist and backing vocalist of mod revival band the Jam. ...

. The 2014 festival was headlined by

UB40 UB40 are an English reggae and pop band, formed in December 1978 in Birmingham, England. The band has had more than 50 singles in the UK Singles Chart, and has also achieved considerable international success. They have been nominated for the ...

(featuring

Ali Campbell Alistair Ian Campbell (born 15 February 1959) is an English singer and songwriter who was lead singer of the British reggae band UB40. As part of UB40, Campbell sold over 70 million records worldwide and toured the globe for 30 years. In 2008, C ...

Astro Astro may refer to: Entertainment and media * Astro (South Korean band), a South Korean boy band * Astro (UB40) (1957–2021), member of the British reggae band UB40 * Astro (Chilean band), a Chilean indie rock band * Astro (Japanese band), ...

and Mickey Virtue) and

The Dualers The Dualers are an eight-piece (or nine-piece) ska and reggae band from South East London. Initially comprising brothers Si and Tyber Cranstoun, and now led by Tyber following Si's departure in 2010 for a solo career, they first developed a p ...

Ocean Colour Scene Ocean Colour Scene (often abbreviated to OCS) are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Solihull in 1989. They have had five top 10 albums including a number one in 1997. They have also achieved seventeen top 40 singles and six top 10 sin ...

Simon Fowler Simon Geoffrey Fowler (born 25 May 1965 in Meriden, Warwickshire) is an English singer and acoustic guitarist, best known as the frontman of Ocean Colour Scene. The Fanatics Simon Fowler commenced his music career as the lead singer and songwr ...

and

Oscar Harrison Oscar Lloyd Harrison (born 18 April 1965 in Birmingham) is a British musician who currently plays drums with Birmingham-based Ocean Colour Scene and the British ska band The Beat. He also plays piano and bass guitar, and occasionally sings le ...

performed a special acoustic set. Other appearances at the festival include Kool as the Gang, Glitterball, Missing Andy, The Kubricks, The Show, Dani Clay, Finding Albert, Mila Falls, Welcome Pariah, D’lys, Braats, New Killer Shoes, El Deyma, Any Colour You Like, The Popettes, Funky Voices, Grounds for Divorce, Rhonda Merrick, Mannequins, One Step Behind, Undercover, Looking For Liam, The Long Run, The Sea, The Victories, Loni Lincoln, Graham Okey, and Electric Child House. The 2015 festival starred

Pixie Lott Victoria Louise Lott (born 12 January 1991), better known by her stage name Pixie Lott, is an English singer and songwriter. Her debut album, '' Turn It Up'', released in September 2009, reached number six on the UK Albums Chart and sold ove ...

, who grew up in Brentwood, along with

The Human League The Human League are an English synth-pop band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Initially an experimental electronic outfit, the group signed to Virgin Records in 1979 and later attained widespread commercial success with their third album ''Dare' ...

and

Jocelyn Brown Jocelyn Lorette Brown (born November 25, 1950), sometimes credited as Jocelyn Shaw, is an American R&B and dance singer. Although she has only one ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart entry solely in her name, she has an extensive background in the musi ...

. The 2016 festival featured the

Boomtown Rats The Boomtown Rats are an Irish rock band originally formed in Dublin in 1975. Between 1977 and 1985, they had a series of Irish and UK hits including "Like Clockwork", "Rat Trap", "I Don't Like Mondays" and "Banana Republic". The original line ...

. Lead singer

Bob Geldof Robert Frederick Zenon Geldof (; born 5 October 1951) is an Irish singer-songwriter, and political activist. He rose to prominence in the late 1970s as lead singer of the Rock music in Ireland, Irish rock band the Boomtown Rats, who achieved ...

was criticised for telling the crowd "you are wearing wall to wall fucking

Primark Primark Stores Limited (; trading as Penneys in the Republic of Ireland) is an Irish multinational fast fashion retailer with headquarters in Dublin, Ireland. It has stores across Europe and in the United States. The Penneys brand is not u ...

. This is a rock and roll festival."

References

{{reflist, 30em

External links

Official website

Interview with festival organiser Laurie Edmonds
–

Phoenix FM Phoenix FM is a community radio station serving the areas of Brentwood and Billericay, England on 98.0FM and online, covering an area of over 140,000 people. History The station was formed in 1996 and has been broadcasting full-time on FM since ...

Music festivals in Essex Brentwood (Essex town)