Create Your Own Festival This Summer!

Party Entertainment Ideas

Avoid the driving, the camping, the tramping, the queuing and the credit card hammering that is the UK summer music festival scene, why not stage your own mini festival instead! Check out the awesome festival entertainment ideas in this blog...
Also see our Festival Collection and Mumford and Sons style bands page here.

FEATURED: Our very own, exclusive, music festival themed band....Dirty Weekend!

We've taken inspiration from some of the best UK festivals so you can build your own DIY festival for friends and family whether you've got a spare field on your country estate or an urban back garden.

Latitude Festival
www.latitudefestival.com

This massive music and arts festival covers almost every type of superb entertainment you could possible want, including music, theatre, comedy, kids events, DJs, poetry, literature, film, cabaret, dance and lounge music. Be inspired by the sheer diversity, and get your friends to join in and show off their hidden talents too!

Live it like Latitude with:

• Up and coming party bands to rock your main stage
• Live ballet dancers performing a bespoke show
• Stand up comedians to get lots of LOLs
• DJs with lounge sets for your chillout zone
• Face painters and entertainers for the kids
• Your friends doing a star turn!

Price from £POA

Geoff Whiting

Comedians based in Somerset
5 stars - Geoff Whiting are Highly Recommended (13)
Price from £449

Anthony Parella

Wedding DJs based in Staffordshire
5 stars - Anthony Parella are Highly Recommended (132)
“The music throughout the night was fantastic and everyone had a brilliant time” Paul S
Price from £1,532

Hipster

Rock & Pop Function Bands based in Cheshire
5 stars - Hipster are Highly Recommended (412)
“I want to get married again just to book Hipster” Sarah W
Price from £192

Face Painters

based in London
5 stars - Face Painters are Highly Recommended (1)
Price from £1,603

Bespoke Ballet Company

Dancers based in London
5 stars - Face Painters are Highly Recommended (1)

WOMAD
http://womad.co.uk

World music doesn't get better than this; a jaw-dropping line-up of acts that fill your ears with musician tradition and passport-defying fusion. Take a plunge into the world artists section at Alive Network for acts to surprise, delight and thrill your festival.

All the world is at your own version of WOMAD:

• Go Mexican mad with the Mucho Mariachi band
• Discover Cuban son, the fusion of Spanish and African rhythms, with The Cubanaires
• Strike a chord with solo accordionist Coeur Vagabond
• Get everyone dancing with the Latino, Flamenco and Afro-Cuban influences of Mym
• Go EU with sounds of Eastern Europe and the Balkans by Gypsy Magic
• Celebrate the best of British with ceilidh bands, Irish bands, Welsh harpists, and Scottish pipers
• Or book bands that play a fusion of traditional music, such as Connery, and The Footstomping Trads.

Price from £167

Traditional Highland Bagpiper

Pipers, Bagpipers based in Lancashire
5 stars - Traditional Highland Bagpiper are Highly Recommended (15)
“Totally added to the day, wonderful change” Tim W
Price from £1,352

Rabscallion

based in West Midlands
5 stars - Rabscallion are Highly Recommended (36)
“Everybody had a blast! Exactly what we were after.” Paul H
Price from £1,539

The Cubanaires

Latin, Salsa & World Music based in London
5 stars - The Cubanaires are Highly Recommended (26)
“Fantastic music, highly recommend” Kristina O
Price from £962

Mucho Mariachi

Mariachi Bands based in London
5 stars - Mucho Mariachi are Highly Recommended (15)
“Amazing! Would definitely use again In the bar.” Matt L
Price from £971

The Footstomping Trads

based in East Sussex
5 stars - The Footstomping Trads are Highly Recommended (4)
Price from £769

MYM

Latin, Salsa & World Music based in Nottinghamshire
5 stars - MYM are Highly Recommended (17)
Price from £769

Connery

based in Cheshire
5 stars - Connery are Highly Recommended (41)
“An amazing band, which made our night!” Laura W
Price from £246

Coeur Vagabond

Latin, Salsa & World Music based in Somerset
5 stars - Coeur Vagabond are Highly Recommended (9)
Price from £1,293

Gypsy Magic

Unique, Unusual Musicians based in London
5 stars - Coeur Vagabond are Highly Recommended (9)

Cambridge Folk Festival
www.cambridgelivetrust.co.uk

One of the most famous folk festivals in the world prides itself on an eclectic mix of music including bluegrass, gospel, cajun, zydeco, jazz, world, klezmer and ceilidhs. It's not just about star names either: there are regular slots for festival-goers to play too.

Recreate the folk vibe with:

• Bluegrass band The American Barn Dance Band
• The UK Gospel Choir
• Jazz and blues bands for hire
• The Klezmer Band
• Top ceilidh bands Wild Clover, Artys Party, Lord Strange or Rabscallion
• And, of course, your friends!

Price from £962

UK Gospel Choir

Gospel Choirs based in London
5 stars - UK Gospel Choir are Highly Recommended (43)
“They were total and utter perfection” Chris B
Price from £674

Artys Party

based in Swansea
5 stars - Artys Party are Highly Recommended (52)
“The Craic was good in Winchester!!” Bernadette S
Price from £834

Lord Strange

based in London
5 stars - Lord Strange are Highly Recommended (2)
Price from £769

All That Jazz

Jazz Bands based in South Yorkshire
5 stars - All That Jazz are Highly Recommended (107)
“All That Jazz helped to create an amazing atmosphere!” Lucy

Boomtown Fair Festival
www.boomtownfair.co.uk

A heady mix of dub, ska and reggae, swing, punk, and rockabilly in a family-friendly environment - sounds like fun!

Invite the whole neighbourhood to:

• Skank and go totally two-tone with The UK Ska Club
• Relax with real reggae from Rhythm Xpress
• Dance to your choice of the hottest swing bands at Alive Network
• Experience the rockabilly group that Bryan Adams chose for HIS party - Whole Lotta Shakin.

Price from £1,924

Rhythm Xpress

Latin, Salsa & World Music based in London
5 stars - Rhythm Xpress are Highly Recommended (2)
Price from £855

Whole Lotta Shakin

Swing, Jive & Rock n Roll based in Warwickshire
5 stars - Whole Lotta Shakin are Highly Recommended (46)
Price from £705

Bobby Jones and The Retro Tones

Jazz Bands based in Merseyside
5 stars - Bobby Jones and The Retro Tones are Highly Recommended (8)
Price from £1,603

(Ska) The UK Ska Club

Tribute Bands based in West Yorkshire
5 stars - (Ska) The UK Ska Club are Highly Recommended (17)

Bank Holiday Festival Overload: Creamfields, Leeds & Reading Festival & South West Four

www.creamfields.com
www.leedsfestival.com
www.readingfestival.com
www.southwestfour.com

Ok, you've got the idea by now. Book the music you love best, add in something crazy and unusual, stick up a stage, fire up the BBQ, bring in the beers and invite everyone who didn't even get within a mile of Glastonbury. (Just don't charge them to come or sell tickets; your home festival then becomes a public event and PRS, licencing, insurance, health and safety and all sorts of other legal stuff have to be considered.)

Unusual acts to spice up your festival:

• Nancy and Pearl, a quirky, vintage ukulele & vocal duo
• The Norvinis, a Victorian styled illusion act that's like no other
• Doo-wop boy band The T-Tones
• The Bentley Brothers playing pop hits in 1920s style, bizarre and brilliant!
• Authentic 1920's Berlin-style Cabaret with Cabaret Connection, the naughty but nice Cabaret Burlesque Revue or dare-devil stunts from The Body Shock Cabaret.
• And for a sparkling finale, Fire and Glow Performers.

Price from £334

Fire and Glow Performers

Circus Performers based in Leicestershire
5 stars - Fire and Glow Performers are Highly Recommended (26)
“Fitted in perfectly at our Black tie event” Liam B
Price from £744

The T-Tones

Vocal Groups & Choirs based in Suffolk
5 stars - The T-Tones are Highly Recommended (29)
Price from £1,282

The Bentley Brothers Inc

Unique, Unusual Musicians based in West Yorkshire
5 stars - The Bentley Brothers Inc are Highly Recommended (9)
Price from £539

Nancy and Pearl

Solo, Duos & Trios based in Merseyside
5 stars - Nancy and Pearl are Highly Recommended (10)
“Sweet and stylish, really great!” Jasper B
Price from £1,539

Cabaret Burlesque Revue

Dancers based in London
5 stars - Cabaret Burlesque Revue are Highly Recommended (1)
Price from £POA

The Norvinis

Magicians based in London
5 stars - Cabaret Burlesque Revue are Highly Recommended (1)

For more ideas, call the Alive Network team - we've got lots more ideas to make your private festival become the must-have invite of the summer!

And if you're inspired to organise a fully blown festival, here are some tips from festival organisers and experts who've been there, done that, got the T shirts printed and booked the portaloos…

http://www.list.co.uk/article/34730-how-to-put-on-a-festival-essential-dos-and-donts/

http://www.factmag.com/2013/05/13/how-to-run-a-festival-and-not-go-bust/