Bourne Festival draws in the crowds

Record crowds came out in the sunshine to enjoy Bourne Festival at the weekend.

The popular event took place on the Wellhead Field between Friday and Sunday, and included performances from bands which hailed from around the region, as well as a selection of ales, beers and ciders.

Organisers of the annual event, which was held for the 16th time, were left with huge smiles after record numbers of visitors attended on Saturday - estimated at more than 4,000 people.

Neil Bothwell, chairman of event organisers Bourne and District Round Table, said: “It was a really good event for us, it was really successful. We had what we think is going to be a record Saturday for us. “People really enjoyed themselves, they were really enjoying the music here and there was very little trouble. It was just a very good community show.”

Neil said that one of the most memorable moments was when singer Nicky Downs, who is from Morton, got up and sang during a break in the music schedule even though she had not been booked to perform.

Neil explained that Nicky improvised by plugging her mobile phone into the PA system and using it to play backing tracks to hits by Celine Dion and more.

Headlining the Saturday night at this year’s event was covers act Revolver, which included Bourne musician and bus driver Mark Delaine-Smith who plays bass and does backing vocals.

The band performed indie anthems including Oasis classic Don’t Look Back in Anger in memory of those who died in the Manchester terror attack.

Mark said: “It’s a great event and the feedback we’ve had on our Facebook page has gone pretty wild since Saturday. It was explosive from start to finish, we had loads of video footage sent to us, especially the huge sing-along to Don’t Look Back in Anger in tribute to the people of Manchester.”

Other headliners at the event were Cuttin’ Loose which played on Friday and Elton John tribute act Ultimate Elton, who headed the bill on the final night.

Among the 50 local breweries represented at the festival were Fuddy Duck Brewery from Kirton, Baker’s Dozen Brewing Co in Ketton and Wisbech’s Elgood’s Brewery.

Revellers were able to sample a limited edition pale ale and a steam beer, provided by Marston’s Brewery in Burton-upon-Trent.

Drinkers got through a whopping 488 pints of pale amber session ale, RefeRectum, which was especially created for the event by the Round Table with the help of the The Hopshackle Brewery in Market Deeping.

To create the ale, the Round Table members blended pale, wheat, munich and caramel malts at the brewery last month.

Caterers at the festival included StrEATFresh from Newborough who served up street food Groovy Foods, a hot dog and burger seller and Coffee Cafe from Deeping St James.

Bourne and District Round Table will donate all profits from the festival towards helping charities in the area.