• First ever Manchester Soul Festival at
The Printworks a roaring success
• Over £18,000 raised for The Christie NHS
Foundation Trust
• Overwhelming support from Northern Soul
fans means festival is set to be an annual event
The city
of Manchester remains forever faithful to the iconic Northern Soul movement, as
proved by the Bank Holiday buzz of the Manchester Soul Festival. Over 35,000
soulies from up and down the country made their way to The Printworks on
Sunday, 30th August to enjoy live music from over 30 bands and artists, paying
tribute to Motown and soul music, in aid of The Christie Hospital NHS
Foundation Trust.
Pre-sales
of wristbands on JustGiving reached an astronomical £11,000, with a further
£7,000 being raised by sales on the day. Friends and supporters of the cause
donated raffle prizes and silent auction gifts, including rare vinyl records
and exclusive soul merchandise. Bids will remain open for the silent auction
until 14th September, and details on prizes and how to enter can be found on
The Printworks website. www.theprintworks.com.
Influential
Northern Soul fans and BBC Radio DJs, Richard Searling and Stuart Maconie
supported the event on their dedicated radio shows. The event was also attended
by Emmerdale’s Adam Thomas, whose dad fronts The Dougie James Soul Train that
performed on the main stage.
Manchester
Soul Festival is the brainchild of Manchester DJ, Frank Byrne, a devotee to the
Northern Soul scene for over thirty years. Frank was sadly diagnosed with
oesophagus cancer in October 2014 and started receiving chemotherapy treatment
at The Christie, a specialist hospital in Withington, South Manchester and one
of the largest cancer treatment centres in Europe. Touched by the exceptional
care he received at The Christie, Frank got in contact with the many musicians
and DJs he has worked with over the years, to put on a special fundraiser.
Fred Booth,
Centre Director said: “The Printworks was packed to the rafters for the
Manchester Soul Festival and we have been blown away by the generosity and
passion for the event. Frank is an influential part of the Mancunian music
scene and it’s fantastic to see the support come flooding in for such a good
cause. It was a great team effort with lots of the venues within The Printworks
running special food and drink offers to celebrate the occasion. Northern Soul
is a huge part of the city’s culture and we are hoping to make this an annual
event.”
Follow
them on Facebook and Twitter to find out more about our latest events at The
Printworks:
No comments:
Post a Comment