Spalding Festival organizer Matt Clark describes the amazing atmosphere at the weekend music festival

The organizer of a weekend music event was left “tired but very happy” after a record turnout.

The Spalding Festival took place at the Castle Sports Center with three days of acts including Liberty X, 5ive’s Abz and Phats’ Ben and Small and newer artists such as DJ Summer Le Conte.

Attendance at the event was said to be double that of last year, with a focus on community and multicultural inclusion.

Matt Clark, chairman of the festival, said: “It was a multicultural, socio-economic, young and old crowd and we had no problems all weekend despite the massive numbers of people through the doors.

“I’m very tired but very happy, it was brilliant.

“Despite the weather, everyone had a great time and the atmosphere was still amazing.”

Plans for next year’s event are being considered as the sports complex is potentially unavailable as a venue as it is being redeveloped.

However, Mr Clark said there was a lot of support for a potential festival next year and expressed thanks to councilors such as Mark Le Sage for helping out at the bar.

He said: “We have had a lot of support from South Holland District Council.

“It was really great to have him as part of the community.

“John Hayes came to see us and we’re up substantially on last year’s numbers, double last year in terms of traffic.”

Mr Clark hopes to release official attendance figures soon and highlighted how the festival brought people from the community together.

He said: “The new setting of what we’ve done, with multi-stage stuff, has really worked.

“The dance tent we presented had a real sense of community.

“It was great to see this work in a community where people could be exposed to dance music without fear.”

The festival gave newcomers an opportunity – and artists who are local to the area, like Summer, who closed the festival with her drum and bass set.

Mr Clark said: “We had a lot of up-and-coming artists on the newcomers stage.

“There were a multitude of beliefs. On Sunday morning we had a Christian service and at lunchtime the Muslims joined us and both sides prayed for good weather.”

Visit https://linktr.ee/spaldingfestival for more information.

What do you think? Post your comments below.