THE team behind music festival GlastonBARRY have announced the headline acts for their upcoming Penarth Rocks event.
This will be the second Penarth Rocks, a live music festival featuring tribute bands and local artists.
The acts include Flash, a Queen tribute band who will be flying in from Rome especially for the event.
Other acts include Too Toned, a Ska band from South Wales and Sarah Brown, a soul artist based in Cardiff.
This year’s Penarth Rocks festival. Credit: Martin Gibson.
The festival will be held in the Paget Rooms in Penarth from next April 27. Around 500 tickets are expected to be sold.
It is being organised by Mack Events Presents, which was founded by cousins Matt Blumberg and Ross Mackintosh who both grew up in Barry.
They found success with GlastonBARRY, a similar festival which attracted over 5,000 visitors this year.
Speaking to The Cardiffian, Matt and Ross said they decided to start Penarth Rocks after the success of GlastonBARRY.
“We had been running GlastonBARRY for the last few years and we were just looking to expand,” Matt said.
“Up until this summer, I was working full time as a teacher. Ross was working for Airbus but we both went full time (with Mack Events) this summer so we were just looking to do a bit more, and Penarth was an obvious step.”
Matt Blumberg (left) and Ross Mackintosh (right) with the Mayor of Barry Town.
Matt and Ross also stressed the importance of supporting local businesses during their events.
“We have sponsorship from local businesses at each event and we try to use local security and local caterers.” Ross said.
They also try to promote local bands and artists.
“It’s all about appealing to local people really. We would like people from Cardiff to come but the whole point of the company is to put on things in the Vale because all our lives we’ve had to travel into Cardiff for a good nights out,” Matt said.
“That’s the whole idea behind it. We put good nights on in Barry and now we’re trying to do the same thing in Penarth.”
The cousins were the stars of a hour-long documentary called Waking up Barry, which followed the pair as they prepared to launch GlastonBARRY. The documentary was made by filmmaker Mark Woods and its premiere took place at Barry Masonic Hall last year.
It has since been pitched to TV companies such as the BBC and Channel 4.
“It was a bit strange at first,” Ross said.
“It was over 12 months and frustrating at times because it caught us at some bad points but it made the film interesting. It was a brilliant experience when we look back.”
- Tickets for Penarth Rocks can be bought on the Mack Events Presents website.
