Burnley Live music festival to rock town centre

The first ever Burnley Live takes place on Sunday, May 5th, with organisers promising a fun-packed day for all the family.

The free to attend town centre festival, running from noon until 8pm, will feature a stellar lineup of local talent performing on a main stage in St James’ Street, outside McDonalds.

There will be a children’s funfair, a licensed bar, food stalls dotted throughout the town and a number of bars, restaurants and cafes will also be putting on their own entertainment throughout the day and into the evening.

“We’ve wanted to put an event on in Burnley town centre for a while,” said organiser Madge Nawaz. “Plenty of other towns around here have their own events and it’s incredible that Burnley doesn’t.

“This is an event for the whole family and it is chance for the people of Burnley to come out and support their town. We want this to be the first of many Burnley Lives, with each year the festival getting bigger and better.

“The council and the police have been a big help in allowing us to put everything together and we wouldn’t have been able to go ahead if it wasn’t for our sponsors VEKA, AMS Neve, Fagan and Whalley Witch Interiors, Pennine Community Credit Union and Jet Kings.

“We still need help though so if businesses are interested then please get in touch.”

Live music on the day will come from bands including Northern Social, Furious Styles, Bridle City Lights, Downtown Band, Erase and Rewind as well as performances from Hayley J Brown, James L.A and Marcus Henry.

Andrew Henderson, Northern Social drummer and founder of Forward Thinking, believes Burnley Live is the type of event the town has been crying out for.

“I think it’s great and I think it’s something that’s going to be a great success.

“I was born in Burnley, grew up in Burnley, worked in Burnley and was vice-chairman of the Burnley Bondholders from when it started, up until two years ago.

“I’m passionate about the town and it has come on leaps and bounds in the last few years. I remember going to the Houses of Parliament in 2013 when Burnley was awarded the most enterprising town in the UK.

“One of the key things we used to speak about when I was part of the bondholders was raising the aspirations of the people; helping people understand that Burnley is a great place. And this is the type of the event that helps supports that cause.

“It’s time to shine a light on the positives of the town. Forget about the negatives and focus on what’s good about Burnley.

“As a band we can’t wait to play. We have a great following in Burnley from playing the likes of the Talbot and the Ighten Leigh and come Sunday evening we are going to be playing some real bangers to get the crowd going.”

Anybody wishing to sponsor the event can find ‘Burnley Live’ on Facebook or email [email protected].