It was a Super Sunday at the Dartford Festival as 25,000 visitors descended on Central Park to take in the sunshine at one of the region’s best loved free community festivals.
Dartford Borough Council have confirmed that almost 40,000 visitors attended over the festival weekend to watch amazing performances by Toyah, The Hoosiers, The Blockheads, 4th Impact and many more. Visitors brought picnics, chairs and plenty of sunscreen to make the most of two glorious Summer days.
Away from the main stage, the community stage showcased the talents of local dance and drama groups and there were stalls aplenty with activities, information and demonstrations.
Local up and coming bands TailBlock, The Aim, Suburbia, Crowbar Surgeons, Stereo Drones, tvfordogs and ProtoStereo played to huge crowds (some for the first time), and gained lots of new fans over the weekend.
Councillor Jeremy Kite, Leader of the Council, said, “The festival has changed a bit over the years and we’ve worked hard to deliver a good mix of community groups, local charities, brilliant local performers and some of the country’s best loved live bands. The number of people attending just keeps on rising and we get lots of comments on how well organised it is and how it has a great ‘family feel’. We’re supporting more and more community events in and around our neighbourhoods but the Dartford Festival is a fantastic showpiece for the whole town. It’s quite amazing to look out over Central Park and barely see a patch of grass because every inch is covered with people.”
Dartford Festival 2016 was presented by Dartford Borough Council in association with FULL. Huge thanks go to sponsors Pinnacle PSG, North Kent College, Places for People, Bluewater, Hidsons, Dynes, WJ King Group, Everest, Wynne Electrical & Maintenance Ltd and The Orchard Theatre. A special mention goes to We Love Dartford for their support via Twitter.
To give feedback about this year’s Dartford Festival please email festival@dartford.gov.uk