Liverpool International Music Festival 2014 - Bands-stand Out From the Crowd

Local musicians are being encouraged to showcase their talent and bepart of Liverpool’s International Music Festival.

The Liverpool International Music Festival (LIMF) will host two bandstand stages, LIMF Bandstand – in Sefton Park, and Stanley Park.  Bands, soloists and choirs of all ages and genres will take part and and wow audiences with their talent.

LIMF Bandstand will launch on the weekend of 12/13 July, to coincide with ‘Our Big Gig,’ a UK-wide celebration of community music. On Saturday (12 July), a number of acts, including Futurejack and Lunacorona, will take to the stage in Sefton Park, whilst on Sunday (13July), it will be the bandstand in Stanley Park that hosts performers such as Got Skills (from The Netherlands), Capilore (from Japan) and Anfield Community Arts Dance Group.

Following the launch weekend, performances willtake place every Thursday at Stanley Park and every Sunday at Sefton Park from 3 August until 7 September.

In 2013, LIMF Bandstand saw almost 162 acts take part over the 26 days, with a mix of professional and amateurperformers aged from 14 to 70 years old. The diverse line-up included 2012 MOBO Unsung Award winner, Esco Williams, Sense of Sound Choir (who will be performing as part of the main festival this year), Natalie McCool (Liverpool Music Awards Female Artist of the Year) and many more.

Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson said: “Last year’s LIMF Bandstand was a huge success with almost 600 performers given the opportunity to take part. Providing a platform for local talent is a key priority for LIMF and LIMF Bandstand plays an integral part in this.

“It will be wonderful to see two of our park bandstands being made the most of throughout the summer – green spaces and live music is a great combination, and, fingers crossed, if we can add some sunshine to that it will be the perfect day out!”

The launch weekend will see over 10 performances take place on the two bandstand stages, including Brouhaha International acts and Mic Lowry and form part of ‘Our Big Gig,’ England’s biggest free community music festival. 

Katharine Lane, Director at Superact said: “Our Big Gig is a great way to kick off LIMF Bandstand as it puts the spotlight on local talent. Music is a great way tobring people and communities together and that’s exactly what we want to achieve with Our Big Gig.

“As Our Big Gig grew out of our London 2012 Bandstand Marathon project, it’s fantastic to be involved with an event that is making use of these wonderful community performance spaces.”

Other great performances throughout LIMF Bandstand will include Splintered Ukes, Dominic Dunn, and Onyx Brass. Last year saw the likes of Sophia Ben-Yousef and Tyler Mensah take to the Bandstands and go on to win the LIMF Academy Ones to Watch and secure themselves slots on the ‘Its Liverpool Stage’ at LIMF Summer Jam. Natalie McCool also performed at LIMF Bandstand last year and is this year featuring as part of the massive Steve Levine’s Assembly Point Sessions at St George’s Hall! So get along to LIMF Bandstand and see the acts of the future!

It’s not just musicians who are being asked to get involved. Artists and art organisations have been invited to use the bandstands to highlight their work and raise their profile in the city. One Latin Culture and Brouhaha are both programming line-ups for LIMF Bandstand this year.

Yaw Owusu, LIMF’s Music Curator, said: “A major element of LIMF is about celebrating and inspiring the next generation of musicians and artists – which is why LIMF Bandstand is so important. Local performers will be given a fantastic opportunity to be part of the festival and showcase their skills to a new audience.

It also offers something different for our visitors. At one end of the spectrum, we have some of the biggest and best names in the industry and at the other; the audience can experience a much more intimate gig as music is stripped back to its acoustic roots.”

LIMF Bandstand is commissioned by Liverpool City Council and co-ordinated by Open Culture who aim to engage members of the public with art and culture. LIMF Bandstand is part of Joe Anderson’s, Mayor of Liverpool, strategy to animate parks.

The launch of LIMF Bandstand will take place on Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 July. The line-up includes:

Saturday 12 July 2014 (1pm to 5pm, Sefton Park)

Futurejack

Lunacorona

Balance Vocal Studio - performance & workshop

MiC Lowry

The Lotharios 

Sunday 13 July 2014 (1pm to 5pm, Stanley Park)

Got Skills (Netherlands)

Barefeet Zambia

Capilore (Japan)

Got Skills (Netherlands)

Capilore (Japan)

Anfield Community Arts Dance Group

Anfield Community Arts Samba Band

Artscape Youth Jazz Band (South Africa)

Junkanoo Commandos (Bahamas)

Circo Paral Fodor (Colombia)

KalentuRa (Netherlands)

For further information, visit www.limfestival.com/main/limf-bandstand/

For full listings of other Our Big Gigs visit www.ourbiggig.co.uk