Having made the difficult decision to cancel the event in 2019, SarkFest organiser Simon Couldridge explains why now is the time to bring the event back and what’s in store for 2020.
‘Now in its second year, we are delighted and excited to announce that SarkFest is returning in 2020.
SarkFest takes place on the beautiful, unspoilt and famously accredited Dark Skies Channel Island of Sark, where cars are banned and where peace, harmony and tranquillity prevails – only interrupted by the gentle clip-clop of horses passing by, the ting-ting of bicycles and the occasional rumble of a tractor. It’s a place that lends itself to a festival event. The location is what makes a festival on Sark so special.’
The SarkFest story so far
‘We first launched in 2018 as the Sark Summer Festival. The event came about after the Sark Folk Festival organisers decided to have a year off. We wanted to fill that gap with another family-friendly event that showcased Sark to its full potential, and it was a fantastic success.’
‘We wanted to re-create that success this year, but we unfortunately we had to cancel. It was a tough decision to make but with the Sark Folk Festival announcing that 2019 would be its final year, now seemed like the right time to bring our event back. We were semi geared up to put on a festival event, and it made sense to do another one.’
What can we expect from SarkFest 2020?
‘SarkFest is a three-day family friendly, music-based festival showcasing the best of on-and-off-island bands and performers. We try to cater for multiple tastes, covering various genres of music from folk, rhythm and blues to reggae and ska, to mention a few.
Also for 2020, in addition to acts performing at the festival site, there will be the music trail featuring acoustic performers, who will play during the daytime at multiple venues around the island.
In addition to our music artists, we will have the famous Bernard Bezerkaz circus skills performer and our now famous spacehopper park for kids of all ages. There will also be a bar selling local beers and ciders, wine and Pimm’s bar, and great local food stalls, including Dom’s Lobsters, Andy’s local honey sausages, Tel’s donuts. There’ll be great craft and merchandise stalls, too, with yoga, ti-chi, reiki and more.
We want people to get behind SarkFest 2020 and enjoy all the fun and thrills of a festival experience, plus all that the glorious Island of Sark has to offer.
GOOD MUSIC, GOOD FOOD, GOOD FUN, GOOD KARMA.’
SarkFest takes place on 10, 11 and 12 July 2020.
