Galtres Parklands Festival was an English live music, arts, beer and family festival that took place annually at

Duncombe Park Duncombe Park is the seat of the Duncombe family who previously held the Earldom of Feversham. The title became extinct on the death of the 3rd Earl in 1963, since when the family have continued to hold the title Baron Feversham. The park is si ...

Helmsley Helmsley is a market town and civil parish in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the North Riding of Yorkshire, the town is located at the point where Ryedale leaves the moorland and joins the flat Vale of ...

over the August bank holiday weekend until 2014. Headliners in 2014 include Tricky,

Morcheeba Morcheeba is an English electronic band formed in the mid-1990s with founding members vocalist Skye Edwards and the brothers Paul and Ross Godfrey. They mix influences from trip hop, rock, folk rock and downtempo, and have produced ten regula ...

, Bellowhead,

Levellers The Levellers were a political movement active during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms who were committed to popular sovereignty, extended suffrage, equality before the law and religious tolerance. The hallmark of Leveller thought was its populis ...

, and

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' ...

. Founded in 2005 originally as a real ale and music festival in

Crayke Crayke is a village and civil parish in the Hambleton District of North Yorkshire, England, about east of Easingwold. Etymology The name ''Crayke'' is of Brittonic origin, derived from the neo-Brittonic Cumbric ''crẹ:g'', meaning "a crag" o ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

, Galtres Parklands Festival increased in attendance capacity to 10,000 and grew to incorporate an entertainment programme on eight stages featuring dance, theatre, family entertainment, spoken word and music, with the music programme combining local and regional talent with international artists. Galtres Parklands Festival has featured headline performances from acts including

The Stranglers The Stranglers are an English rock band who emerged via the punk rock scene. Scoring 23 UK top 40 singles and 19 UK top 40 albums to date in a career spanning five decades, the Stranglers are one of the longest-surviving bands to have origina ...

Maxïmo Park Maxïmo Park are an English alternative rock band, formed in 2000 in Newcastle upon Tyne. The band consists of Paul Smith (vocals), Duncan Lloyd (guitar), and Tom English (drums). The band have released seven studio albums: '' A Certain Trigge ...

Adam Ant Stuart Leslie Goddard, better known as Adam Ant (born 3 November 1954), is an English singer, musician, and actor. He gained popularity as the lead singer of new wave group Adam and the Ants and later as a solo artist, scoring 10 UK top ten ...

, The Charlatans,

Buzzcocks Buzzcocks are an English punk rock band formed in Bolton, England in 1976 by singer-songwriter-guitarist Pete Shelley and singer-songwriter Howard Devoto. They are regarded as a seminal influence on the Manchester music scene, the independen ...

Ash Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non- gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash ...

Billy Bragg Stephen William Bragg (born 20 December 1957) is an English singer-songwriter and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic themes. His music is ...

Lloyd Cole Lloyd Cole (born 31 January 1961) is an English singer and songwriter. He was lead singer of Lloyd Cole and the Commotions from 1984 to 1989 and subsequently worked solo. Early life Cole was born in Buxton, Derbyshire, England. He grew up in ne ...

British Sea Power Command of the sea (also called control of the sea or sea control) is a naval military concept regarding the strength of a particular navy to a specific naval area it controls. A navy has command of the sea when it is so strong that its rival ...

and

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. Galtres Parklands Festival was owned by The Galtres Festival Charitable Foundation, registered by the Charity Commission for England and Wales and was run under licence by Crucial Events Promotion.

History

2005-2009: Founding and expansion of programming

The event now known as Galtres Parklands Festival originated in 2005 as 'The Crayke Village Real Ale Festival'. Re-branded in 2006 as 'The Galtres Festival' - a reference to the festival site's location within the boundaries of the historical

Forest of Galtres The royal Forest of Galtres was established by the Norman kings of England in North Yorkshire, to the north of the Ancient City of York, extending right to its very walls. The main settlement within the royal forest was the market village of Easi ...

- the event grew in scale steadily from 2006 to 2009, building the music, food, dance and family entertainment programmes. Throughout this period the annual festival took place at progressively larger sites in Huby, Sutton-on-the-Forest and Crayke.

2010-2012: Increase in attendance and higher profile performers

Galtres Festival moved to a 5,000-person capacity site in Crayke in 2010. This period in the festival's history saw the booking of higher profile performers including

The Lightning Seeds The Lightning Seeds (also known as Lightning Seeds) are an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1989 by Ian Broudie (vocals, guitar, producer), formerly of the bands Big in Japan, Care, and Original Mirrors. Originally a studio-based s ...

Dodgy Dodgy is an English rock band formed in Hounslow in 1990. The band rose to prominence during the Britpop era of the 1990s. They are best known for their hits "Staying Out for the Summer", "If You're Thinking of Me", and " Good Enough". Good ...

and The Beat; and a rebrand of marketing materials by design agency Lazenby Brown. This stage of growth saw the event progress from being a regional event to one with national profile. The York ArtsBarge Project teamed up with Galtres in 2010, adding a new vein of underground music and cabaret to the programme which to many became central to the whole event.

2013-2015: 'Galtres Parklands Festival' rebrand and bankruptcy

In 2013, the festival moved to a new 10,000-person capacity site in the grounds of Duncombe Park, an historic country estate near Helmsley, North Yorkshire, overlooking the

North York Moors National Park North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

. The move was accompanied with a re-brand from 'Galtres Festival' to 'Galtres Parklands Festival'. Performers booked to perform at Galtres Parklands Festival 2014 included Tricky,

, Bellowhead,

and

. The 2014 festival lost money and a new cashless payment system left traders owed up to £120,000 by festival organisers. The festival company went into administration in September 2014 and a 2015 relaunch was also cancelled.

Ethos

Galtres Parklands Festival is widely regarded as a genuinely family-friendly event, and features an extensive programme of interactive 'family' activities. In both the procurement of food and drink, and the booking of non-profile performers for the event, the organisers positively discriminate in favour of local suppliers and performers. and the event's environmental concerns include an urban tree planting programme funded by ticket purchasers in partnership with Treemendous York.

Reviews

The Festival has been nominated for several UK Festival Awards.

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

writer Simon Godley wrote of the 2012 festival: "Despite its emphasis upon being all things local it manages to maintain a wider global perspective without lapsing into parochialism. It is an end result which is achieved by a collective vision, detailed planning and organisation and nigh on perfect execution."{{cite web, url=http://www.godisinthetvzine.co.uk/2012/08/29/galtres-festival-24th-to-26th-august-2012/, title=Galtres Festival – 24th to 26th August 2012, work=God Is In The TV, accessdate=22 March 2015 The Festivals for All website described Galtres as "a splendid festival and up there as one of the best events of its size in the UK. ... a true celebration of talent, imagination, creativity and professionalism."

References

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External links

Galtres Parklands Festival website

The Galtres Festival Charitable Foundation website
Festivals in North Yorkshire