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Cornucopia Festival

Venue: Burton Constable
Town: East Yorkshire
Date: 26-28/9/14
Website: http://www.cornucopiafestival.co.uk

The Cornucopia Festival has the honour of being of being one of the last festivals of the summer season in Yorkshire.

This year it was held in the grounds of the marvellous stately home of Burton Constable Hall at Sproatley near Hull.

And the organisers were blessed with glorious weather as we all basked in the last rays of the Indian Summer.

The Festival was held largely on the lawns and in around the magnificent Georgian stable block. The Barn Stage was a superb venue, with large stage, superb sound system and lighting. Headlining on the Friday night were The Animals, who rolled back the years with a quality set of quality songs, with the new members of the band shining alongside the original band members.

Saturday night saw Scottish rockers Big Country take the stage with a wall of sound that proved too much for some as they romped through their guitar-heavy back catalogue.

Cornucopia lived up to its name as we were spoiled for choice across the weekend. It bills itself as a music, arts, and green festival and there were lots of different activities and sights over the weekend event.

The sight of a large noisy blue whale, breathing smoke, being wheeled around the site was one of the more unusual things going on.

Musical highlights of the Festival for me were the stunning set by Henry Priestman and The Men of Certain Age, who played songs from his solo albums and his back catalogue with The Christians. Singer-songwriter Lotte Mullan joined Henry for a duet of Valentine Moo, a song which they had co-written. Henry was later joined on stage by a 26-strong teenage gospel choir from Long Croft School, who made it a memorable occasion. Wonderful stuff.

Earlier we had caught Holy Moly and The Crackers performing on the Village Stage. This energetic band from Newcastle had everyone dancing with their infectious mixture of ska, folk, and bluesy jazz.

Sunjay is a versatile guitarist who has wowed audiences wherever he plays and Cornucopia was no exception. His storming set drew a large appreciative crowd in the Concert Marquee.

The Nick Rooke Band from Beverley played a lovely set of folky songs with an engaging style.

A mention too for Mean Eyed Cat, a great covers band, who had the place jumping.

Back in the Barn Stage we caught the Keston Cobblers Club, who despite a laconic stage presence, managed to play an inventive, musical set with some great tunes.

Earlier we listened to Lotte Mullan, with her great acerbic songs. But, as with another singer-song writer Lynne Hanson from Canada, I felt they were dwarfed by the enormous stage and would have both being better served in a more intimate venue.

A word too for the Blackbolt New Age Orchestra from Hull who closed the Festival on the Sunday with a great set of film and game tunes. I counted 32 youngsters on stage.

Organiser John Holtby and his team deserve all the praise indeed for delivering a superb festival. Roll on next year!

John Knighton
Photocredit:Viceversarobbi Fotografia. Top to bottom: Blue Whale, Henry Priestman & Long Croft School Choir, Sunjay