AycLive Music Festival 2023 brought out local residents in their droves to enjoy a day of music, fun and celebration of the town’s 75th Anniversary at the OakLeaf Sports Complex.
Families and music fans brought deck chairs and snacks to the arena to be as comfortable as possible for the show.
Headliners for the festival were popular Britpop 90s bands Cast and Dodgy, with many other bands also giving the crowd a great day of entertainment.
Kicking off the event were local group ‘Another Crisis’, followed by 70s glam rock band ‘The Sleeze Sisters’; 7 piece ‘Northern Soul Elite’ gave superb renditions of soul and Motown classics followed by ‘Sound Divide’ with chart busting tracks from Kate Bush and Blondie.
‘Gangsters of Ska’ brought another genre into the mix with a selection of ska tracks from the likes of Madness and The Specials. 80s tribute band ‘The Breakfast Club’ sang songs by favourite formative bands such as A-Ha, Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, Gary Numan and many more.
At 8.15pm ‘Dodgy’ took to the stage to a packed audience in front of the festival stage followed at 9.45pm by ‘Cast’ who both played their hits from the 1990s, which was well received by the audience.
The weather was fine for most of the day, with the odd shower, which didn’t dampen the spirit of those in attendance who enjoyed the well laid out festival arena.
Event organisers would like to thank all those who helped before, during and after the festival including Great Aycliffe Town Council, Gestamp, McDonalds Newton Aycliffe, Kudos Accountants, NHS Trust, Tesco, Northern Productions, Aycliffe Radio, Clear Brew, Carousel Catering, Scrub a Dub Cleaning Crew, Nev & Joanne Jones, TA Reme 102 Batallion, Newton Aycliffe Junior FC Coaches, Newton Aycliffe Rugby Club and the many other volunteers who came along and mucked in to help make this event safe, secure and enjoyable for all who attended, too numerous to mention by name – thank you all.
Will there be an Ayclive Festival 2024? Watch this space . . .
