By Kevin Painter

A COMBINATION of great weather, fantastic entertainment and delicious food stalls brought big smiles to the people of Tetbury on Saturday when they came out in force for the Tetfest annual live music festival.

Nearly 2,000 people flocked through the gates at Geoff Turbott’s Worwell Farm on Cirencester Road to see a selection of artists covering all kinds of genres. ‘Something For Everyone’ has always been Tetfest’s motto and, as usual, it didn’t disappoint.

Among the bands lighting up the stage were The Arkansaw Jukebox Collective, Blurb, Kaiser Thiefs, Soul Destroyers, Junior Jungle, Ant Trouble and Rave Against The Regime.

When the sun went down and the lights came on, Tetfest 2022’s headline act Pure Queen made their appearance, and the crowd went wild.

There was dancing, cheering, clapping and a lot of singing as Pure Queen performed classic hits such as We Will Rock You, Bohemian Rhapsody and We Are the Champions.

“We had an absolutely brilliant day, and we couldn’t be happier,” says Mark Wood on behalf of the entire Tetfest organising committee.

“This was the biggest and best Tetfest yet. We are going to have a hard job beating it next year!”

Tetfest aims to be as inclusive and family friendly as possible, which is why it endeavours to remain free at the point of entry and to provide a range of equally free children’s entertainment.

This year these included fairground rides, bouncy castles, face painting and a climbing wall – all of which were hugely popular.

One highlight of the afternoon was Junior Jungle, a Drum & Bass/HipHop party specifically curated for the kids by Nick Rutherford and Dickie Nutter. This pair had the whole site laughing with their crazy moves and outrageous costumes.

Not to be outdone, Ant Trouble’s lead singer Mitchell Tennant became Tetbury’s Pied Piper when he jumped off stage and danced round the festival site followed by a stream of excited children.