A brand new city-centre festival will hit Liverpool in August, and it's one none of us are prepared for. Hope & Glory Festival may well be in its first year, but that hasn't stopped the festival's creators from bagging a huge lineup, with James, Hacienda Classical, The Fratellis and Liverpool's own The Lightning Seeds topping the bill, amongst others.
With such a great collection, it's no surprise that festival co-owner Lee O'Hanlon is confidently declaring it to be "a festival of anthems."
In charge of the concept and bookings for the festival Lee said: "Whether incredible heritage acts like James and the 70 piece strong Hacienda Classical, or the best of the new acts in the country like The Shimmer Band, they had to have huge tracks that were anthems."
Such a lineup has already heralded praise from fans, with people reporting that it will be "the best lineup of the summer". Although flattered, Lee understands they aren't blessed with the same resources as other festivals: "I don't know if we're there yet but I'd challenge anyone to find a better lineup, in a better setting with better other things to see and do for £89 inclusive of booking fee."
Hope and glory festival line-up is actually beautiful
— skag trendy (@cruickshank1998) March 16, 2017
While some of the huge bands that Scousers love will be filling the headline slots, new music is just as important to the city famous for sculpting great musicians from a virile music scene.
With up and coming music "absolutely essential" to festival creators, it's no wonder Lee emplores people to get down early to take an interest in the younger musicians, as well as the more experienced ones: "There are bands like Dantevilles on the bill of our Wonders of the Age stage (second stage) that may be the first on the bill but they're absolutely quality."
As for the setting, it made perfect sense for Liverpool to provide the backdrop for this epic line up. "I don't live in Liverpool now but used to. It's an amazing city with amazing people and a love of great tunes runs through the core of the city so it makes sense.
"There was no real city-centre festival there anymore so we thought we'd put that right. The setting just looks important and we'll be lighting up the surrounding building with moving imagery on them too. We're not at all cool about it ha. We're going to have the best weekend ever!"
Not only will Hope & Glory be providing the anthems that we'll be singing all summer, but the theme of the festival will provide a 'decadent Victoriana carnival atmosphere' promising to make this festival stand out from others. The "Victorian backdrop of the magnificent St. George's Hall, World Museum, Central Library and gardens", provided the inspiration for the theme, setting the creators "on the path of what we could do artistically”.
Other than music, there will be plenty of activities to look forward to: "I'm just as excited about some of the other things we've got happening that people won't really understand until they're at the festival – it's going to be immense."
So there you have it – you have to get down there to see for yourself exactly what's in store!
Hope & Glory Festival will be on 5 and 6 August. You can grab your tickets here. You can also follow the run-up to the festival on their Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
