UPDATE: Organisers have been forced to cancel the event due to low ticket sales.
A popular music festival is set to return to a West Cumbrian town this summer.
Mont Fest is set to take place in Egremont on Saturday June 7 in Gillfoot Park and will bring a day of live music from local bands and DJs alongside food and a bar to the town.
The festival is being organised and run by Egremont Rangers who ran the first Mont Fest in 2021, after the pandemic.
It was hugely popular and saw over 450 people attend and organisers of this year’s festival are hoping to replicate that success.
Chloe Pascoe, a committee member for the rugby club, said: “We held the first one after Covid and it was the first stand-alone music festival in the area to take place and we actually sold out that year.
“So we thought we’d put on another event because it was such a great success last time. But we’re really excited for this year, obviously we just want it to be as successful as the first and if the sun is shining like it has been then it will be a great day.
“There’s nothing better than having a beer in a field and listening to good music with your mates.”
Over 12 bands and DJs are set to perform at the festival and include DJ Ratman, The Northern Threads, House Jack, Daley Rogers, The Newton Shacks Show, Corey & Stuart and more.
Attendees can also expect barbeque food, a bar and two stages featuring different musicians and DJs throughout the day.
Chloe said: “We’ll have a marquee that will have a stage for the bands and six acts will be on during the day. We’ve also got picnic benches to set up outside for people where they can sit and chill while the bands aren’t on.
“We’ve then got the Cowshed, which will be on the pitch where the Rangers would normally play and that’s the homestand and we’ll have six DJs on there throughout the day brought by Social, who will do house, disco and soul.”
Organisers are also hoping the festival will boost footfall in the town and raise some much needed funds to help support the club.
Chloe added: “This initiative primarily serves as a fundraising effort. Our goal is to attract more visitors to the town while also generating additional revenue for the club, as we are currently facing some financial challenges given the current climate.
“We would really appreciate everyone’s support with this event and hope it’s as successful as the last!
“We really want the festival to bring the community in to see the things like this we do day to day outside of being a rugby league club.”
Chloe added that the club relies on community support to keep running.
She said: “We need people’s support. These clubs can’t run without community involvement, and we do give a lot back to the community, so having that support back means a lot to us.
“Times are tough as they are and these events don’t happen easily, there’s a lot of time and effort put in by all volunteers and nobody is paid to do it, it’s all to bring communities together and get people out to have a good time.
“Aside from that we also need the support from people to keep the club running and and open and keep us in a good place so we can continue doing these events. “
The festival will start at 12.30pm and end at 10pm. The event will close to Under 16s at 6pm.
Those age under 16 must also be accompanied by an adult at the event.
You can keep up with festival updates by following the Mont Fest Facebook page here.
