Groove Armada (DJ Set) to headline Valley Fest 2023

Valley Fest, the family-friendly festival has added Groove Armada (DJ set) to its headliners, along with The Kooks, Bananarama and Scouting for Girls. The award-winning, music and food event takes place over 3rd – 6th August. alongside Chew Valley Lake, near Bristol.

DJ Flight, Ishmael Ensemble, Ibibio Sound Machine, Bibi Tanga & The Selenites and Honeyfeet are also on the bill. Along with Altern 8, Crazy P (DJ set) Norman Jay MBE, Krafty Kuts, Soul ll Soul, The Legends of Goldie Lookin Chain (live show), plus the Plump DJs. The full line up is listed on the website.

Arcadia’s Alchemist Playground will return - much to the delight of kids and adults everywhere. By day, this field is a hive of activity. The Woodland Tribe will be on hand to help build a playground out of reclaimed materials, upon which the kids will dance, when finished. The popular welding workshops will return as well as DJing and more craft activities than you can shake a felt-tip pen at.

By night the Afterburner stage fires up. DJs take to the booth, the dancefloor fills, the lights and lasers reach to the stars. Expect performances from the Lord of Lightning who will make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck, along with cutting-edge fire shows. A spectacle like no other.

At the helm of the food programme for the best-tasting music festival in the South West is Josh Eggleton from The Pony Chew Valley. The menu includes feasts, cooking over fire and plenty of demonstrations from much-loved regional chefs and beyond.

These include Peter Sanchez-Iglesias, of Michelin-starred Paco Tapas and newly-opened Casa, Mark McCabe of green-Michelin-starred The Ethicurean Restaurant, Elliott Lidstone of Bib-Gourmand-awarded Box-E.

Plus Pegs Quinn from Sonny Stores, Noya Pawlyn of Noya’s Kitchen, voted one of the UK’s Top 5 Independent Restaurants in 2021, Kalpna Woolf and Danny Bohan from River Café London and many more listed on the website. It is, without doubt, a star-studded line up.

New for this year: a Sunday Regen Roast! You can expect the tastiest meal and be safe in the knowledge that you’re eating in a way that cools the planet. Ali Pumfrey from Yeo Valley and Rob Howell from Bib-Gourmand-awarded Root are in the kitchen. And every single ingredient will have been produced using regenerative farming methods.  The feasts are selling quickly.

In 2022, Valley Fest was the first-ever festival to showcase all things regenerative. This is because our soil has such a crucial part in addressing climate change, producing healthy food and we all have a role to play in protecting it. In 2023, the popular hub will include talks, panel discussions and workshops, plus food, drink and skincare from pioneering brands, farmers and producers.

Andy Cato will share his own journey from pop star to farmer.  He sold his rights to the Groove Armada songs and bought a farm in France and begun a life changing journey, slowly revolutionising farming.

Not only that, there will be games, silent discos and comedy.  The programme has been carefully curated so that it caters for everyone – including food lovers, activists, gardeners, parents, farmers and children. The full line up is on the website.

Festival favourites, The Community Farm, will be running their popular tours and wildlife walks, so you can see organic and regenerative farming in action, plus the principles behind and underneath it.

From pint-sized punk poetry with T.S Idiot, to The Little Things Theatre and Stone the Crones performances from Beccy Golding, there is something for the whole family at our Milk Poetry stage, where spoken word and storytelling is the name on everyone’s lips.

The new Spa area is the place for realignment, refreshment and revitalising: massages, meditation and movement await. From sacred sound to yoga flow, reiki to reflexology, it will all be there. Not to mention hot tubs and sauna in the new wild spa.

Now in its ninth year, Valley Fest is going from strength to strength. The small, family friendly festival is becoming a firm favourite in the Bristol and South West calendar. Edged by the rolling Mendip hills, Chew Valley Lake provides the sparkling backdrop, which, some say, give it ‘the best view of any UK festival.’ 

Luke Hasell, festival founder says: 

‘Guaranteed good times ahead! Families, you’ll find something for your toddlers, teens, parents and grandparents! Everyone needs to GET ON MY LAND!’

Expect hedge-to-hedge Somerset sparkle and spectacle with a whomping soundtrack.

Weekend Tickets are £175 (plus booking fee) and can be bought in instalments to spread the cost from www.valleyfest.co.uk.