News Bandstand concerts in Brenchley Gardens – well worth a visit
Maidstone’s Brenchley Gardens is set to host a series of events this summer for everyone to enjoy free of charge.
The concerts have been organised by Maidstone Area Arts Partnership and Make Some Noise, with funding from Maidstone Borough Council (MBC), and will be held on the Victorian Bandstand in the gardens set in the heart of the town centre. The Sunday afternoon events will include Big Band, Jazz and Brass Band music, while the Saturday concerts will offer alternative music from local bands.
The Bandstand concerts set to take place in September include:
- Sunday 5 September - Jon Hamilton Big Band - originally formed in 1988, this Tonbridge-based big band comprises 17 regular instrumentalists and three vocalists. Their music consists of a huge range of styles from the classics to relative unknowns.
- Saturday 11 September - Upcdownc; Spinner; Gypskazz & Pip Bowers. Upcdownc are veterans of the UK post-rock scene. Spinner is an iconic instrumental five-piece modern British rock band in the making, offering a multi-layered retro-modern sound. Gypskazz are a Gypsy Jazz/Ska band based in Kent, combining the sounds of the Balkans with 1930's Paris, the West Indies, and Latin America. Pip Bowers is a Kent based original acoustic singer-songwriter mixing up pop, indie and alt-folk styles.
- Sunday 12 September - Invicta Jazz Orchestra - a friendly ensemble comprises around 40 amateur musicians whose repertoire has something for everyone, heavily varied, ranging from Jazz standards and the Big Band Era of the 20s to modern arrangements, and includes both vocal and instrumental numbers.
- Saturday 18 September - Stacey & The Freeloaders; Best Intentions; The Dredgermen; and Mikey Price & Jon Fuller- a four-piece rock band taking influence from classic 70s and 80s rock, psychedelia and blues. Best Intentions are a Maidstone three-piece with a shared passion for loud fuzzy riffs, 60s lysergic beat groups, 90s American alt rock, slacker pop and the studio experimenters of the 70s. The Dredgermen are an acoustic four-piece from the Medway towns taking elements of traditional folk, sea. Mikey Price is a distinctive singer-songwriter and guitarist with edgy and memorable songs that take in elements of folk, post punk and rock.
- Sunday 26 September - BAE Systems Brass Band - the Rochester based band has played in concert halls throughout southern England as well as performing concerts across the continent.
Chair of the MBC Economic, Regeneration and Leisure Committee – Cllr Martin Round said:
“These concerts are another great example of some of the fantastic events being held in Maidstone this summer.“Brenchley Gardens and the Victorian Bandstand provide the perfect venue and backdrop for these events. I hope as many people as possible head down there this September to enjoy the music and atmosphere – I’ll see you there.”
To help visitors enjoy the beautiful surroundings of Brenchley Gardens, MBC has also introduced bespoke deckchairs which are free for people to use throughout the summer.
The deckchairs are available from 11am - 3pm, Thursday - Sunday each week, between 5 August until 19 September (weather-permitting). Although they are free to use they must not be removed from the gardens and are protected by a security company to monitor the service each day they are in place throughout the summer.
Maidstone Borough Council has recently been allocated funding from the Welcome Back Fund, part of £56 million provided to councils across England from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) to support the safe return to high streets and help build back better from the pandemic. It builds on the £50 million Reopening High Streets Safely Fund (RHSSF) allocated to councils in 2020 and forms part of the wider support government is providing to communities and businesses.
All the projects planned for Brenchley Gardens have been made possible thanks to this funding, which was announced in April and confirmed in June.
Entry to all of the events is completely free of charge. Full details can be found in the ‘What’s On’ listings on the Visit Maidstone website: www.visitmaidstone.com
ENDS