Following on from a massively successful debut in May of this year, online music festival Five4Five Fest has today not only announced that the festival is returning and will be taking place digitally on the 18th and 19th of December, but also announced that the festival headliners will be non-other than Brighton Rock band Yonaka and Welsh rockers Holding Absence.
Five4Five Fest hit our screens back in May and originally aimed to showcase five artists each night with an encouraged donation of £5 to NHS Charities Together. Due to overwhelming support from the industry, more bands were added to the line-up in May and the festival raised over £50k. Continued support from awesome artists and the industry means the festival is back with an incredible twenty-one band bill and new charity beneficiary; Music Venue Trust’s #saveourvenues crisis fund – raising money to save the grassroots venues we know and love from closure due to Covid-19 restrictions.
Joining Yonaka and Holding Absence are The Dangerous Summer, Normandie, Vukovi, Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly, Lizzy Farrall, Hacktivist, Delaire The Liar, Nova Twins, Holiday Oscar, Chapter and Verse, Snake Eyes, As Everything Unfolds, Weatherstate, The Rhythm Method, Tally Spear, Stay Free, Anavae, Paper Mill and Haggard Cat.
Yonaka comments; “We are dead excited to be headlining this festival. It’s for a great cause for everyone to get involved in, saving the grassroots venues that we have all had a great time in. We all want to get sweaty and moshy again so do what you can to help and enjoy the show!”
Holding Absence comments; “After what has been the longest year for all of us musicians, Holding Absence are extremely excited to be blowing off the cobwebs and headlining Five4Five fest this December! We all individually tuned in and enjoyed the first one so are honoured to be a part of it this time around, especially as all the proceeds are going towards something as close to our hearts as the Music Venue Trust.”
The festival also announces that once the bands have finished, some of the UKs best club DJs will close out each night by DJing afterparties. Friday 18th will see Zoe London smash out a club night of Alt bangers whilst Saturday 19th will see Tasmin Taylor closes out the festival.
A mixture of full band, solo/duo and completely reimagined performances will be streamed via the Five4Five website/Youtube/Facebook from 7:30pm each evening. The show will be public and completely free, those watching will be encouraged to donate £5 via a fundraising link provided at the time. All profits will be donated to the MVT #saveourvenues crisis fund.
Mark Davyd, Music Venue Trust comments; “Since March, Music Venue Trust has been fighting to ensure we reopen every grassroots music venue safely. Through a huge effort by artists, audiences and communities, many of our vital iconic venues are now safe, but there’s still more work to do with some venues at real risk of permanently closing before the crisis ends.”
Along with standalone donations, festival viewers will also be able to donate to buy fixed price Five4Five Fest merch including T-shirts and posters. They will also be able to donate to buy a raffle ticket entering them into a competition to win a whole host of great prizes including money can’t buy signed items from artists, merch and bundles donated by festival sponsors including Vans and Signature Brew’s ‘pub in a box’. More information on the exclusive raffle prizes to be announced.
Five4Five Fest was born as fans and bands alike faced a summer without festivals and returns as the country faces the festive period without shows, pledging support to do everything in their power to help #saveourvenues.
Tom Pullen, Five4Five Fest co-founder comments; “The past, present and future of the UK music industry relies on grassroots, independent music venues. We at Five4Five can’t stand by and watch as our venues are left to weather the Covid-19 crisis on their own. We’re proud to partner up with the Music Venue Trust to help ensure they can reopen safely, so we can go back to the loud and sweaty spaces where it all begins. In the meantime, we’ve gathered some of the finest acts to enjoy from the comfort of your own sofa. We hope you enjoy and donate if you can.”
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