Welcome to Chiddfest Music and Beer Festival 2023.
What an amazing festival we had in 2022. The sun most definitely shone for us that year. The vibe that we felt from our supporters, the bands, our amazing sponsors was overwhelming and we cannot thank you enough for making it one to remember.
This will be our 9th year which has grown in size and popularity due to the array of artist we bring to entertain our festival goers for a fun packed weekend. Not only will you have a fantastic 3 days camping, enjoying the music and hanging out with likeminded people but you will be supporting our local charity St Wilfrid's Hospice.
Chiddfest are delighted to welcome back Uckfield Radio on board as our main media partner this year. The radio station will be broadcasting live from the event across the weekend, along with providing live DJ sets and entertainment on our stage.
The festival features two stages full of must see artists, a fun fair, food traders, craft beer and ale tent, along with glamping, camping and hot showers. This is a family friendly festival with plenty for the children to do, so the little ones can also enjoy the festival experience.
Friday and Saturday will be packed with original artists and local talent showcasing their amazing vocals and performances. We end the weekend with Tribute Sunday that appeals to all ages and is a fun day out not to be missed! So book you tickets now!
St Wilfrid’s Hospice – Eastbourne
We love the Chiddfest weekend at St Wilfrid’s! It’s a regular fixture in our calendar that we all look forward to, and we are grateful to Mark Thomas and his family for their continued support.
We’ll be back in 2023 with our volunteers, our collection buckets, and our stall of vintage and pre-loved festival themed goodies. We’re always happy to chat about what we do and how people can support us, do pop over and say hello!
St Wilfrid’s have been a part of the Chiddfest story, right from the first one back in 2014. In fact, the connection between the Thomas family and the hospice goes back even further…
Anne Thomas has helped raise money for St Wilfrid’s before it even came into existence. Her son, Mark, recently told the story of how it all got started…
“She got invited to join a committee in the village to help raise money for the proposed new hospice. We are a farming family and on the property is a big barn; and it was used to hold a Caribbean-themed evening as a fundraiser. It was very successful, raising over £1,100 – we’re talking early 80s, so it was a good amount. After that, Mum continued with her involvement and St Wilfrid’s became, and still is, the charity that we championed. There are lots of other local good causes, but everyone knows someone who has been touched by the care of St Wilfrid’s and it seemed right that we should carry on supporting them after Mum’s early involvement.
‘Little did we know at that time that my dad, Bryan, would need their care years later. In fact, we had started planning our first music festival in 2014 when he died under the care of St Wilfrid’s.
Unfortunately, while he was aware of it, he wasn’t around to see it happen; I don’t think the music would have been to his taste, but he would have loved to come along with Mum to people watch.
‘That first year, we had about 500 people visit over the course of the weekend and now we expect around 3000. It’s become a lot bigger, but retains a relaxed, family-friendly feel. And every year, we continue to support St Wilfrid’s.
‘The hospice looked after Dad so well and us, as a family, too, and that is always a good incentive to put Chiddfest on and raise more money for this great local cause.’
To read more about the work of St Wilfrid’s go to the website www.stwhospice.org
See you at Chiddfest 2023!
Our Media Partner
Uckfield FM became Ashdown Radio in April 2022. Ashdown Radio broadcast from their studios in Uckfield to towns and villages across East Sussex, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We broadcast from Crowborough on 94.7FM and from Uckfield on 105FM. You can find us online at www.ashdownradio.com or download Ashdown Radio app from your app store.
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