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The Linton
Music Festival, now in its 11th year, is held in the
grounds of the Alma Inn, Linton, Ross-on-Wye,
Herefordshire. Twice awarded CAMRA Pub of the year for
Herefordshire (2002 and 2005) and featured in the CAMRA
Good Beer Guide.
The rear of the pub provides the perfect venue for the
music and ale festival. Rows of straw bails are provided
for seating on land that gently slopes down to a purpose
built stage. This natural amphitheatre and the
professional sound system ensure a good view and great
sounds for everyone. Surrounding the amphitheatre are a
series of tents and marquees to provide cover in the
event of rain. Sitting above the amphitheatre on the
site of the Alma's car park is the catering area. A wide
range of food was available, suitable for all tastes
including a barbeque, hog roast, cake and coffee stall
and Indian and Chinese cuisine. The beer tent offered a
wide range of superb real ales plus lager, cider, perry
and soft drinks.
There were three large car parks just a few minutes
stroll from the venue and disabled parking at the front
of the Alma Inn. Camping was available for £6.00 a night
or £9 for the whole festival. One big improvement this
year was the removal of the front stage supports with an
RSJ supporting the roof giving a vastly improved view
and a godsend to photographers. Merchandise was
available adjacent to the stage and the volunteers of
the St John Ambulance had little to do other than
administer paracetamol (!), plasters and tend to one
malicious bee sting. Backstage, artists were given a
warm welcome in the hospitality tent which included a
fine array of fresh foods (quite a rare treat these
days).
The music was broad based ranging from pure nostalgic
pop through to the blues - as a 'music' festival, there
was something for everyone. The new Committee are to be
congratulated for their organizational skills in
generating an atmosphere of wellbeing for the event
and building a strong base from which to take the
Festival further. The quality and range of the music,
catering, parking, band turn-around, ticket sales, P/A,
and M/C's ran smoothly, with only a few delays in
getting the sound balanced.
The Festival is a non profit-making event and donations
are made to various local causes and charities. The
Festival's sponsors are to be thanked for their
generosity and support.
Thank you and well done Linton.
Steve
Wosket and Alan White |
