INTERVIEW - GARDEN GATHERINGS

After copious amounts of zoom quizzes, streamed gigs and a general sense of insanity, live events are finally underway and it seems as though we can begin living like actual human-begins again. With that in mind, when the time came around for live events to get the go ahead, founders of Leigh Folk Festival, Mike and Elliot, decided it was time for a refresh, bringing an alternative twist to the festival for 2021 with ‘Garden Gatherings’.

Izzy from Show up! Southend, spoke with Elliot Waters about Garden Gatherings and what it’ll be bringing to Library Gardens this year.

What made you decide to create garden gatherings?

With both the 2020 and 2021 Folk Festivals cancelled and getting to know Sam Duckworth (Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly) better during the last 12+ months, through the work of Concrete Culture, conversations turned to how we could bring local arts and musicians to a new event, to bring people back together again. With discussions about bringing back Southend Arts Festival, led by John Bulley, everything came together, and so The Garden Gatherings was born.

The artists on the lineup are a variety of genres, could you explain the reasons behind the artists you’ve chosen for Garden Gatherings, and is there anyone you’re particularly excited about playing? 

The annual Leigh Folk Festival is usually the last weekend in June – and has heritage and style that dates back nearly 30 years now, with a broad church approach to folk and roots music.

With The Garden Gatherings, as an alternative event, we wanted to push the boundaries even further, while still having elements that rung true with LFF. This is a celebration of the arts, and for us, the line up is an absolute triumph. Whether it’s the talent from up and coming Essex acts like Blab, Mabes, Oli Fox, Christina Hart and Esme Emerson, or the pure brilliance that we can’t wait for in performances from the likes of Dele Sosimi Afrobeat Orchestra, Jordan Mackampa or John Smith – the weekend has something for everyone. Plus a WHOLE night dedicated to comedy – and we all need a good laugh.

How did you deal with the lack of live music events over the course of the pandemic?

In 2020, when we were plunged into lockdown, Mike & I were quickly lacking both a lot of work and missing live music – and we love a project! So our answer was to work with Leigh Folk Arts to organise the Front Room Folk Festival.

The initial idea was for a 7-hour online festival, and it grew and became 21 hours of performances across two days with more than 70,000 views now. The whole thing can still be viewed on YouTube, and raised about £8,000 that was split between Help Musicians, Leigh Folk Arts and the Southend Emergency Fund.

Are you excited to finally have a festival-ready for the go-ahead after the last 18 months?

I almost can’t remember what it felt like to stand in the middle of a festival – especially one you have organised – and look around and take in the sounds of performance, soak up the atmosphere and take it all in, and we’ve been working on this for quite some time now – back when the ‘roadmap to reopen the country’ hadn’t really been established yet. There were A LOT of unknowns and barriers to overcome – but in just a few days, that buzz will be back once again in Southend (and check out everything else Southend Arts Festival has to offer over two weeks, too). https://www.visitsouthend.co.uk/event/southend-arts-festival/

Library gardens are undeniably picturesque but no doubt on a smaller scale, why did you decide to hold the festival here?

There is just something about putting on great entertainment within a space like Leigh Library Gardens, it lends itself to something more intimate, more family friendly – it’s manageable and special. We’re able to create defined areas and spaces, without anything or anyone feeling lost in a big space, even when there’s a crowd, it feels comfortable and familiar, and that was important to us.

What else has the festival got to offer other than music?

Across the whole weekend we’ll have some top-class food, a bar in partnership with our friends at Leigh-on-Sea Brewery, and cocktails from Leigh Spirit Co, and Rossi Ice Cream will be joining us too.

On Friday 3 September we kick-off the weekend (and in fact launch Southend Arts Festival) with an evening of side-splitting comedy. The lineup is packed with 11 top-class comedians who’ll have you in stitches! We’ll welcome Edinburgh Fringe’s Best Newcomer 2016 Jayde Adams; host of the Two Vegan Idiots podcast and Mock The Week regular Carl Donnelly; Britain’s Got Talent’s musically comedic runner up Robert White; Celebrity Gogglebox and Amused Moose National New Comic Award winner Babatunde Aleshe; and Mark Simmons who regularly supports Rob Brydon, Seann Walsh and Rob Beckett.

Saturday is all about the music – but on Sunday, our free community day, we’ll have sea shanties, poetry, workshops, live painting, Southend Museums are joining us in the Metal Makes space, and an amazing Makers Market to check out too. 

What’s next for Garden Gatherings? If all goes well this year what can we expect in 2022?

All eyes for Leigh Folk Arts will be turning to its 30th anniversary, set for the last weekend in June – beyond and aside from that – watch this space!

Garden Gatherings Festival is on from 3rd to 5th September. Tickets here. 

AND Show Up! Southend have a stall at the Makers Market – pop down and see us!