ONE SUMMER'S DAY 2015
The first One Summer’s Day charity music festival took place in the garden of The Guildford Tup on Sunday 12th July 2015. It was produced by GT Live Sessions and sponsored by LAB, in association with the GUIDE 2 SURREY. The sound desk was run by Joshua Robins and his team from Robins Audio. The event raised £3,400 for the two chosen charities - Macmillan Cancer Care, and the Detecting Women’s Cancer appeal at The Royal Surrey County Hospital, and was hosted by Gavin Thomas.
GAVIN THOMAS with THE NEFARIOUS PICAROONS, MIMI & CLAUDIA STARK ... posing for THE SURREY ADVERTISER
THE NEFARIOUS PICAROONS - by Philip J Mitchell
MEG BARWELL - by Philip J Mitchell
JOE WALLER - by Philip J Mitchell
JONAS & JANE - by Philip J Mitchell
CLAUDIA STARK - by Philip J Mitchell
HENRY BOEREE
ANNABEL ALLUM - by Philip J Mitchell
MONKEY'S FIST - by Philip J Mitchell
CARDBOARD CAROUSEL - by Philip J Mitchell
YETI LOVE
BACKWOODS CREEK - by Philip J Mitchell
AN INTERVIEW WITH GAVIN THOMAS ABOUT THE INAUGURAL ONE SUMMER'S DAY FESTIVAL - JULY 2015
"For so many years now I've been amazed at the talent of the singers and songwriters in our town, and I thought it was time to give some of these supremely talented musicians a larger stage, and a larger audience to play to. The idea of creating some sort of live event coincided with the news that we were going to lose Guilfest this year. So I thought I'd see if we could set up a small acoustic festival in Guildford's town centre, around the time that Guilfest would have been, as I know that there are are an awful lot of local people who are going to miss the Guilfest weekend terribly. Before I knew it The Tup had offered me their venue, and I had a Stage Manager, a sound crew, and some sponsor ideas ... so it was time to book some bands!
"I decided to make One Summer's Day a charity event, and picked Macmillan Cancer Care and the "Detecting Women's Cancer" appeal at the Royal Surrey Hospital as the two charities we would be collecting for.
"These are two hugely important charities - one national, and one local - and both are very close to my heart. My Mum was a great supporter of the performing arts, and was always a huge inspiration to my musical career. We lost her to cancer 20 years ago, and I thought that these charities would be the perfect fit for this event in her memory.
We were extremely lucky to get sponsorship from the wonderful people at Lab Lateral Limited (a local digital company), and this sponsorship enabled us to donate 100% of everything we raised to the charities. We also managed to persuade TG Media Group's Guide 2 Surrey to be our media partner.
"After months of planning, pleading and positive thinking, it all came together on Sunday 12th July in the garden of The Tup in Guildford town centre, and it was a glorious success! I still can't believe how lucky we were with the weather. It was a sell-out, and we knew that we had the potential for something very special. But in the few days leading up to the event the local weather forecast was showing everything from torrential rain to full-blown thunderstorms which would have made things pretty tricky to say the least.
"As it turned out the storm never came, and the inaugural One Summer's Day festival was a huge success. There was a wonderful atmosphere, with the venue full of a happy festival vibe. Each act in turn worked their magic on the enthusiastic crowd, and then hung around to support all of the others. One performer said "It was so great. I've never been at an event where everyone is like a big family ... it was awesome how everyone was so friendly, and there to support everyone else."
"I'm very, very proud of how it all came together. It would have been impossible without my fantastic team of Duncan Cooper (Stage Manager), Josh Robins and Nico Menghini (Sound), the crew at The Tup, and of course our extraordinary bunch of musicians - The Nefarious Picaroons, Mimi, Joe Waller, Jonas and Jane, Claudia, Henry Boeree, Annabel Allum, Monkey's Fist, Cardboard Carousel, Yeti Love, and Backwoods Creek.
"I am thrilled to confirm that this year's One Summer's Day festival raised £3400 for our two charities! It's an extraordinary total for a one-day event and I can't thank everyone enough for their love, support and generosity.
"We are now in the planning stage for the next one, and we'll be following this up with a January event called One Winter's Night, so watch this space for details."
Gavin Thomas - July 2015
ONE SUMMER'S DAY BADGES ...
Photographers at this event included PHILIP J MITCHELL (Philm Photography) and GAVIN THOMAS.
All artwork was created for GT Live Sessions by Three Green Piglets Design Studio.
