Gatehouse's Midsummer Music festival to return after three year gap
dailyrecord.co.ukMidsummer Music will make an emotional return to Gatehouse venues this weekend after a gap of three years. Lack of time between the final lifting of Covid restrictions and the summer solstice had cast doubt on the 2022 event.
But rather than lose another festival organisers, pulled out all the stops and put together a Saturday-only programme. Gatehouse of Fleet Festival Group was determined to bring the showpiece back after the sad passing of a Midsummer Music stalwart.
Committee chairperson, Michelle McClure, said: “An important part of this year’s festival is paying tribute to a departed friend, Roger Hampshire, who passed away in 2021. “Roger was instrumental in setting up the original Gatehouse Music Festival and was honorary president for life of the festival committee. “The stage at the Ship Inn is to be called the Roger Hampshire stage, and renditions of Roger’s unique blues songs will be sung by friends old and new.” All performances are non-ticketed with fans and supporters invited to make a small donation instead.
And the committee is proud to have put together a programme while all the time working against the clock. She added: “We were inspired by the glorious return of the Moniaive Festival in May. “We couldn’t start planning in December as we’d usually do because it still wasn’t certain festivals would be possible. “Now that we’ve seen it can be done, it’s all hands on deck!” This year’s event is a pared-back grassroots affair, featuring local talent around the town’s welcoming hostelries.
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