Bath Racecourse’s Lansdown Live Festival, a Boost for Grassroots Music

The rhythmic sound of pounding hooves won’t be the only music on offer at Bath Racecourse this summer, as the venue teams up with local up-and-coming artists to provide a new entertainment platform.

The racecourse’s ‘Lansdown Live’ - a festival of live entertainment which will run on race days throughout the spring and summer months - is set to present a prime opportunity for budding performers to showcase their talents in front of a jam-packed crowd on some of the busiest days in the racing calendar.

Marketing manager, Tom Bettles, believes ‘Lansdown Live’ will provide a brilliant race-day experience at Bath, while also supporting the grassroots music scene in the South West.

“For this year, we’ve got a real focus on entertainment at the racecourse,” he said. “We’re in a unique position where we have a number of big race days across the year, with lots of people attending, that presents an opportunity for artists to perform in front of a crowd.

“There’s also a lack of music venues for the grassroots of live music, so something that we want to do - and to give something back - is create a platform where we can get local and up-and-coming artists to come, perform and get their name heard.

“We have many occasions where there are upwards of 5,000 people at the racecourse – sometimes as many as 10,000 – so, that’s a real opportunity for artists.”

Grassroots music may be the theme of ‘Lansdown Live,’ but Bath Racecourse will also play host to more household names this summer, with Brit Award-winning singer-songwriter, James Blunt to take centre stage in September.

“We’ve got the Bath Cup Festival, which is new for this year and is being headlined by James Blunt – and last year, we had UB40 play here, so we have some big names as well,” added Tom.

“We’ve had The Wurzels for a number of years and this year our Cider Carnival will be headlined by Carny Villains – a Bristol-based band - which is another opportunity to see an emerging local band playing front of, hopefully, a huge crowd.

“People don’t just come here for the races – there’s a number of people who will come for the social side of racing and it is great day out, with lots going on.

“The entertainment on offer is massively important to the overall experience for our race-goers.”

As mentioned by Tom, Carny Villains – a dynamic, circus show band from Bristol – will headline this year’s Cider Carnival, and the energetic septet can’t wait to get going.

“We are currently working on some new material ready for our summer tour and have new single releases in late April,” said the band. “We're excited to be playing Bath racecourse before heading out into Europe."

Another band set to feature during the Lansdown Live season is revolutionary genre-bashers, Mr. Wilson's Second Liners. The popular six-piece – described as New Orleans meets 90s club classics – will give fans a taste of what’s to come during a flash mob-style performance in both Bath and Bristol city centres on Friday (9 March)

Kicking off at Bath Spa train station at midday, the band will then perform through South Gate. From here, they move on to Bristol, starting in Millennium Square at 5pm and working their way along the waterfront and ending up in the Centre Promenade, by the fountains.

With the summer months fast approaching, Mr. Wilson’s fleeting, on-the-move gig, will act as the perfect entrée for a musical feast of grassroots talent at Bath Racecourse – you won’t want to miss it.

www.bath-racecourse.co.uk/lansdownlive