Member Article

Organisers promise ‘biggest and best’ festival yet as Chase Park Festival returns

Popular inclusive North East music festival, Chase Park Festival, has confirmed it is returning for its sixth year.

The idependent event has sealed funding from the Arts Council which will see it take place for a second consecutive year at Chase Park in Whickham, Gateshead.

Billed as the ‘North East’s festival for everyone’, the event aims to break down cultural barriers and stereotypes thanks to its accessibility for those with disabilities and its booking of established North East talent and disabled artists.

The pioneering event is one of only three festivals in the UK to be granted a Gold Standard from Attitude is Everything, the charity that aims to improve disabled people’s access to live music, thanks to its inclusivity.

Following last year’s sell-out festival, organisers are promising the ‘biggest and best’ one yet ahead of the event on 6 August, but are calling on local businesses for sponsorship.

Reflecting on the importance of funding and sponsorship money to the continued success of the festival, organiser Alistair McDonald said: “With the help of sponsors this Chase Park Festival can continue to be free to attend for disabled people.

“Chase Park Festival is already the biggest open air event of its kind in the UK, and with an organisation’s support, we will go even further.

“As well as all of the usual costs of running a high calibre music festival Chase Park has trackways around the park for wheelchair users, BSL (British Sign Language) translators on stage, accessible stages for disabled musicians, additional accessible toilets and various other costly production elements which add to the cost of running the event.”

Thanks to Arts Council and European Regional Development funding, the festival will also be running a programme of masterclasses, which will take place alongside this year’s event.

Aimed purely at disabled artists, the classes will focus on developing upcoming disabled musical talent, to give them the chance to develop their musical careers.

Alistair added: “We are delighted to have support from the Art’s Council which this year will enable us to run a focused talent development programme aimed at disabled artists. This shows that the scale and scope of the event are growing beyond purely being one of the most accessible events in the UK.”

“We are working with the UK’s leading music development agency, Generator, to develop and expand people’s skills and knowledge so that disabled individuals have improved access to opportunities and the chance to develop careers as artists.”