By Noah Roberts
This year’s Farsley Festival saw some of its largest crowds yet, with residents describing it as ‘busier’ than ever before.
The annual family-friendly event, held in Hainsworth Park, is a community-led festival organised by volunteers and supported by local sponsors.
Food trucks, inflatables, ice cream vans, face painting and dozens of stalls lined the edges of the park. A stage at the centre of the festival hosted live music performances throughout the day, with the event running from 12pm to 5pm.
Performers included Farsley Village Singers and Leeds Project Big Band.
Local resident Marianne Matuz, who lives near the park, said excitedly: “I could hear the team busy setting up all morning. I’ve never seen it so busy! I’ve just seen a young boy singing on stage called Rocco Mini Mercury – he was amazing!”
Rocco Hamill impressed crowds with his Freddie Mercury tribute performance. He can be found on Instagram and is currently touring festivals across the UK.
This year’s stage was hosted by Amit Mistry, while festivalgoers embraced the sunny weather, many sporting colourful bucket hats.
St John’s Ambulance and West Yorkshire Police were on site to help ensure safety as temperatures peaked at more than 23°C.
Families enjoyed activities in the shade thanks to Rise Dance, who provided a silent disco with a whimsical feel, complete with a giant disco ball and handmade decorations hanging from the trees.
Alongside the disco was the perfect spot to sit down with a cup of tea and take in the atmosphere. The traditional tea stall remains a core feature of the event, with all cakes donated by local businesses so that every pound raised goes directly towards funding next year’s festival.
Stalls included Grumpys and the always-popular tombola, where Chef Imogen was seen trying her luck.
Adults could be seen enjoying themselves just as much as families. One group of friends were enjoying a lavish picnic and said: “We love Farsley. We used to bring our children to this festival and now they’ve grown up, we all come together.”
The park was kept tidy throughout the day thanks to dedicated volunteers, including a cheerful mobile litter picker sporting the familiar purple refuse bags of Litter Free Leeds, a city-wide volunteer movement that provides free litter-picking equipment to local groups and individuals.
Children had plenty to keep them entertained, including a story bus, a rainbow orchestra made from everyday objects such as traffic cones, piping and wheels, and a dedicated art station at the PIECES Project CIC stall.
A local not-for-profit organisation, the stall was being ran by Julie Cotton and Charlie Tomlinson and invited children and families to create a puzzle piece describing what they love about Farsley.
Julie said: “We work with local young people and today we’re asking children and families to create a puzzle piece saying what they love about Farsley.”
The organisation plans to display the artwork in and around Farsley.
The festival was buzzing with music, laughter and activities throughout the day. Performance artists also roamed the park, including stilt walker Poppins Presents, who delighted children as she passed by.
The Walkabout Cupcakes also got people involved by leading a group Cha Cha Slide.
Festival organisers also thanked this year’s sponsors, which included Farsley Co-Work, Tiny Tikes and CAHM. Following the event, organisers posted on social media to thank everyone involved. “We couldn’t do it without you,” they added.
Farsley Festival’s 10th birthday celebration once again succeeded in bringing together residents and the local community of all age. Creating a day filled with music, fun activities and entertainment where both adults and families could enjoy a sunny Saturday afternoon.
An after party event was held at FC Farsley.
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Excellent day, beautiful weather, well executed lol