Not much is normal in the coronavirus era, and that is certainly the case for Whitehaven’s first socially distanced festival with staggered entry times, minimal movement onsite and no dancing with those out of your island it was a very different experience to usual.
However Lee, Shelbi and their team certainly pulled it off under the circumstances, and it was well-received by the Whitehaven community.
Shelbi Travers an organiser of Hensingham Music Festival which took place last Saturday said: “Myself and Lee were delighted with how well the day went and valued the support of Environmental Health throughout the day.
“There was a lot of time and effort put into making the day happen and it paid off. It was lovely to be able to provide a COVID compliant platform for local artists to perform.”
Cory Spedding who performed at the event said it was great to get back to it: “It felt pretty awesome to be back to our graft, to be honest, more than I anticipated. It confirmed for me even more so that music is pretty much what makes my little world go round besides my beautiful little family.
“It felt great to be out gigging again for the first time in over five months and for a local crowd in my hometown at that, the best kind of crowd but for me the most nerve-wracking as I don’t ever want to disappoint my fellow Cumbrians!”
Stuart Sidney who plays the guitar alongside Cory added: “ It was great to be finally back out playing after so long, I think it’s the longest I’ve gone without a gig since I was 18! It was such a great feeling loading the car up with equipment again!”
Supporting the local music scene was a top priority for Lee and Shelbi after months of no gigs, events and activities with little government support the industry has been greatly affected by the pandemic.
