Summer success: Feel Good Festival rocks Rochdale

Thousands packed Rochdale town centre in the summer sunshine at the weekend for the eagerly awaited return of Rochdale Feel Good Festival.

The town centre was filled with a feast of music, food and entertainment in the summer sunshine for the biggest ever edition of the Rochdale Borough Council organised event, headlined by indie rock legends Ocean Colour Scene, Lottery Winners and Heather Small.

The town centre was busy from early afternoon, with a large crowds gathering at the main stage which returned to Rochdale Town Hall Square for the first time in five years.  

Councillor Sue Smith, cabinet member for communities and co-operation at Rochdale Borough Council, said: “To see this festival return and finally get the main stage back on our restored town hall square was wonderful. We celebrated the milestone with the biggest ever line-up and it didn’t disappoint, a weekend we’ll not forget. The fringe events on Friday night were very busy, town was packed all day on Saturday and on Sunday the crowds enjoyed more brilliant live music. We had visitors from right across the UK, some visiting Rochdale for the first time. A big thank you to everyone who came along for making this festival a success, our staff and partners who helped us deliver it, our wonderful volunteers who looked after everyone and the security crew who kept everyone safe.  It was a massive team effort but feedback we’ve had so far has been fantastic. We’ll carrying out a thorough evaluation in the next few weeks.”

At lunchtime on Saturday the festival kicked off at The Empire who hosted a full day of live music on their indoor stage featuring a range of local artists, alongside Ferny’s Funky House Party at The Baum and a 60s themed vinyl special afternoon at our Gracie’s.

Later the main stage, sponsored by The Flying Horse Hotel and hosted by DJ Dave Sweetmore was opened by local group Atlas, who won this year’s ‘Feel Good – Battle of the Bands’ competition. It was a storming main stage debut that got a great reception from the crowd for the five-piece who only formed last year.

They were followed by an electrifying and captivating set from indie R’n’B pop star iamkyami.

Saddleworth ska band Madame Claude brought the tempo up further with a rousing performance which got the crowd on their feet and dancing for over half an hour.

Next was soul, pop and funk artist Toucan and his band. The Irishman won a lot of new fans during his performance, full of infectious melodies, soulful vocals and heartfelt lyrics.

Just after 5.30pm it was time for multi-award winning Heather Small, who drew a crowd of thousands to enjoy a high-octane performance of dance hits perfect for a sunny evening. Opening with ‘Renaissance’ her set included all her classic M People tracks as well as her solo anthem ‘Proud.’  ‘One Night in Heaven’ delighted the crowd before the brilliant set ended with her 16th top 40 hit ‘Fantasy Island.’ 

Returning to the main stage for the first time in ten years were Lottery Winners, who are now playing to considerably bigger audiences than when they made their Rochdale debut in 2014 thanks to a surge in popularity and last year’s number one album Anxiety Replacement Therapy.  Iconic Heather Small would always be tough to follow but the indie pop quartet bounced on stage delivering anthemic songs from that chart topping long player as well as some of their much loved original hits.  It was a show full of great humour and catchy tunes, opening with Worry and finishing with Burning Down The House, completing an unmissable infectious set which had the crowd singing along right through. Lead singer Thom Rylance was relishing their Rochdale return, involving the crowd from the first minute to the last with witty banter in between every track.

Then after a short interlude the stage went dark prior to the arrival of final headliner Ocean Colour Scene in front of a crowd of over 4,600.  Their celebratory set kicked off with Riverboat Song, sending waves of excitement through the crowd and this built throughout the evening with a mix of fan favourites such as Robin Hood before a cover of The Beatles Day Tripper. The classics were all there including The Circle, Travellers Tune, Hundred Mile High City and Better Day.  By the time their set wrapped up the Saturday night on the main stage with the euphoric The Day We Caught The Train they had the crowd in the palm of their hands.

After Ocean Colour Scene closed the main stage celebrations continued in The Flying Horse Hotel with the official after show party featuring dance trio Scratch. Steve Cradock, Thom Rylance and festival host Dave Sweetmore played at the after show party at Hoochi Koochi, with Tina Turner tribute Just Tina bringing the night to a close at The Empire.

BSL interpreters Dayna Cooper, Gemma Mazza and Mel Payne did a brilliant job signing on the main stage.

On Sunday (11 August) the main stage featured a free afternoon of folk music produced by Sound Roots and funded by Arts Council England, headlined by Ríoghnach Connolly & Honeyfeet, returning to the main stage for the second time alongside party band Marvara. New Rochdale musical Peter's Field was premiered featuring Sean Cooney, Eliza Carthy MBE, Sam Carter. The musical marked one of the most momentous days in working class history, it told the story of struggle, tyranny, liberty and hope against the backdrop of the Peterloo Massacre. The Seamus Og Trio opened the main stage intertwining rich harmonies, and stories full of heart.

The festival’s food and drink village was busy throughout the day, and the town centre’s indoor venues were packed, with over 45 live performances from Friday evening through to Sunday afternoon. Rochdale Artisan Market took place at Rochdale Riverside.

On the Friday evening ten local venues hosted free indoor gigs as part of a fringe programme including Dan’s Girlfriend, Foxglove, Between The Vines, The Sprats, Dr Butlers Hatstand Medicine Band and many more.  There was a sold out Feel Good comedy show at Champness Hall headlined by Live at the Apollo and Mock the Week master of the one-liner Gary Delaney. 

The festival, now in its 14^th year, was funded by the council, with support from Arts Council England and Rochdale Development Agency together with ticket sales and sponsorship from Premier Kia, The Royal Toby Hotel, The Flying Horse Hotel, the Bee Network, BRSK full fibre broadband and Rochdale Riverside.