Darwen Live back with a bang with first day 'huge success'

The first day of Darwen Live was considered a great success as crowds drew to the town centre to enjoy the free music festival yesterday.

In its 25th year, the free festival promised to be another fantastic year with an estimated attendance of 35,000 people.

The main stage hosted Tunde Baiyewu of the Lighthouse Family whose hits include Lifted, Ocean Drive and Goodbye Heartbreak, performing with his full band.

Singer Jacob Reddy thanked Darwen for their support, telling the crowd the town has a special place in his heart as he had been coming for years.

He said: "I want to thank the people of Darwen as I have been coming here for around five years so playing the main stage at this festival is very special to me.

"You have been my community for the last 15 years and this song goes out to you."

Also on the main stage lineup was Fuzzbox (Pink Sunshine) and Eddie and the Hotrods (Do Anything you Wanna Do).

There is something for every music lover to enjoy, with genres including country, folk, rock, ska and indie, set to be performed.

Lila Thompson, a music goer from Blackpool, said she had never been to Darwen, but decided to try the concert as she had seen it was the UK's biggest free music festival.

She said: "The crowd is really friendly and there is such a vibrant atmosphere.

"There is a strong community spirit and it's nice to see so many families and people just enjoying themselves."

Another music fan said: "It's nice to have small stages as it allows a more personal experience with the acts."

Official merchandise is available with many people wearing official 'Darwen Live' t-shirts and hats.

An abundance of stalls sell food and local goods, such as 'Spice Jack deli streetfood', a Thai food van, a burger van, and a salt and pepper chips van.

The event is made possible by grants and sponsorship from both Blackburn with Darwen Council and and Darwen Town Council.

A council spokesperson said: “We are excited to support another Darwen Live festival and appreciate the amount of hard work and effort that goes into making it such a success especially from such a small organisational team.

"The festival reaches people far and wide with even overseas visitors now attending and that can only be a good thing for the traders and businesses in the town.”

An exhibition that celebrates Adidas Spezial’s 10th anniversary named "DECADE – 10 years of Adidas Spezial" is also running over the late May bank holiday weekend, with the last day to attend happening this weekend.

The festival will continue today, Sunday, May 26 and the line up includes:

12pm - Rudeboyz

12.45pm - PJM

1.30pm - Full Billy

2.15pm - CCaprice

3pm - Nerve Agents

4pm - Pretty Shivers

5pm - Merry Hell

6pm - The Jets

7pm - Kevin Davey White

8.30pm - Echobelly