ALL EYES will be on Wokingham Festival this August bank holiday weekend.
Organisers have announced that Dutch prog rock band Focus will headline the Cantley Park event on Monday, August 29.
Fronted by founding member Thijs Van Leer, the band are calling in on the festival as part of their 50th anniversary tour.
They are best known for hits including Hocus Pocus, House of the King and Sylvia, and critically acclaimed albums Moving Waves, Focus 3 and Hamburger Concerto.
Speaking to Wokingham.Today in January, the festival’s founder Stan Hetherington said that Focus is the “biggest band we’ve ever booked.”
The live music offering will continue to be the usual mixture of local, regional and national music artists.
Joining Focus on Monday’s main stage bill are The Room, Keplar Ten and The Honey Pot and local bands The Paradox Twin and Third Lung.
“It’s important for us to give local bands the opportunity to perform on the same billing as some big names,” Mr Hetherington explained.
Headlining on the opening day of the festival, Saturday, August 27, is Pink Floyd tribute band Crazy Diamond.
Up-tempo dance, soul, funk and rock cover band Dance Cult 10 top the bill on Sunday, August 28.
Other main stage bands include Mr Grey’s Jailhouse Jukebox, Bottle Kids, Flutatious and Kindred Spirit.
Wokingham Music Club is back with a stage showcasing up-and-coming talent from across the UK. Singer-songwriter That Joe Payne returns to the festival to headline, following his first appearance in 2019. Some of the other artists announced so far include B J Bevy, Deva St John, Aaron Cilia, Reliant, Split the Dealer, Leoni Jane Kennedy, Mike Wagner, Rye Wolf, In Albion, Nora Mac, and Rocket Kings.
Alongside the music on offer at the three day festival, organisers have promised a variety of activities for children and families and a range of food and drinks stands.
Ian Wisdom and the Twyford Beer Festival team will once again be running the beer tent. It will have a selection of more than 40 specialist craft beers, ciders and perries from local and national breweries on tap for thristy punters to choose from and be raising money for male cancer charity, Orchid.
Tickets for the festival have already gone on sale.
Under 18s will require a ticket in order to help manage numbers. Early bird tickets for Under 18s are free. Adult weekend passes are on offer at £25 for a limited time, which is a saving od £23 on daily gate prices.
For more information, visit: wokinghamfestival.co.uk
