Play Hard

Live music is back! Festival By The Sea kicks off this weekend – and you can still get tickets

Headliners Martin Kemp, Craig Charles and Smoove & Turrell are bound to get this seaside party started…

Written by Becky Hardy

Published 14.07.2021

Live music, cracking coastal views, DJ sets, street food traders, craft ales, cocktails bars, fairground fun, and… a chilli eating competition? This can only mean one thing – Festival By The Sea is back!

A stalwart in the Summer events calendar here in the North East, Festival By The Sea is returning to Meggies Burn Fields in Blyth this weekend (16^th–18^th July) to celebrate its 10^th birthday – becoming one of the first festivals in the North East to make its grand return after the pandemic. And let us tell you, from the looks of this line-up, it’s planning for us all to celebrate in style. The hottest Summer sounds, the hottest scran (quite literally), all hopefully on one of the hottest weekends of the year, right by the sea… what’s not to love, eh?!

WHAT TO EXPECT…

Still a socially-distanced event, more than 20 live music acts are set to descend on Blyth, along with plenty of scran, bevs galore, all the fun of the fairground and – in an annual nod to the festival’s fiery roots – Rob Dumbrell’s infamous chilli eating competition.

If (by some miracle) your tastebuds survive, you can tuck into street food and drink from renowned local traders, including: Fat Hippo, Deli Churros, Smokey Joes, El Paladar, Monroes Newcastle, Hatch76, Mivesi and Phi Pie…

All this for £20 for the full, three-day pass. Not bad, eh?

THE LINE UP

Friday

‘Greatest modern soul band’ Smoove & Turrell are joined by Weekend Sun, the legendary Craig Charles Funk & Soul Club, and seven-piece live funk band, The Haggis Horns.

Saturday

Music kicks off from 10am, with the likes of Dilutey Juice, SouLutions and Voice of the Town Choir taking the stage early.

The grand Chilli Eating Competition will start at 5:30pm on the main stage too, (trust us, you won’t want to miss it).

Then the soul jams will really start with Soul’ed Out on at 7.45pm, before Kroud Karaoke hit the stage – and are guaranteed to have everyone singing their hearts out when they do.

Sunday

Spandau Ballet and EastEnders favourite Martin Kemp headlines on Sunday, closing the festival with a bang thanks to his world-renowned Back to the ‘80s disco set. He’ll be supported by local talents Hip Hip Hooray and duo Love Like This.

HEALTH & SAFETY

As full restrictions don’t officially lift until Monday 19^th July, Festival By The Sea is still very much a socially-distanced event. But that doesn’t mean you’ll ever by far from the fun.

‘Although the event takes place the weekend before restrictions ease, you can relax and enjoy the music, food and drinks within your bubble to your heart’s content,’ says festival organiser Mark Deakin.

‘You will be allowed to move around the event still, using the one-way routes to visit the various street food traders, bars and chilli producer village.’

GET YOUR TICKETS

There are various ticket options still available for the festival, including weekend camping options. But be quick – we don’t think they’ll stick around for much longer!

Get your tickets on the Festival By The Sea website and Facebook page.

Festival By The Sea, Meggies Burn Fields, Sea Front, Blyth, Northumberland NE24 3PH