Wakefield Live: New free one-day music festival coming to city centre next month

Wakefield Live is set to go ahead on Saturday, September 17.

The new festival will see bands and musicians take to different venues across the city centre, free of charge.

The event has been created by Long Division, a community interest company that promotes grassroots music in Wakefield.

Festival organisers are focused on providing families access to the festival as much as possible with non-traditional venues being promoted - including chappels, shops and outdoor street performances.

Dean Freeman, director of Long Division, said: “We want to draw people back to the city centre and show how important live events are.

“We have a small amount of funding from Wakefield Council and Arts Council England, plus significant resources of Long Division CIC.

“We're literally updating the list of venues on a daily basis now, but venues such as The Art House, Venue 23, The Ridings, Wah Wah Records,

“The Providence and The Hop are involved. We expected to surpass 20 venues in total.

“Musicians are predominantly emerging local artists, but we also have some exciting dance and singing workshops, a silent disco, environmentally themed storytimes and a world premiere of a new film about the musical heritage of Westgate.

“The website will be continually updated, with a free app being released in September.”

Currently, the festival is looking for volunteers to help out with the festival, including ambassadors, stage managers and venue reps to help things run smoothly.

For more information, follow Wakefield Live on Facebook at @WakefieldLive2022 and on Instagram at @WakefieldLive.