Wentworth Festival: One Night In Heaven guaranteed as Heather Small tops star-studded bill

MUSIC lovers are guaranteed One Night In Heaven with a greatest hits set from headliner Heather Small at this year’s Wentworth Festival.
Heather SmallHeather Small
Heather Small

The Proud, Moving On Up and Search For the Hero pop icon tops the bill which also features All Together Now indie rockers The Farm, Harvest For The World hitmakers The Christians and many more on Saturday,September 17, writes Graham Walker.

Wentworth Woodhouse – the largest fronted stately home in Europe – will again provide the stunning backdrop for the day long family friendly music and comedy festival, organised by local residents and radio stars Toby Foster and Steve White.

BUY TICKETS: Tickets for Wentworth Festival are available online at www.wentworthfestival.com or buy in person, with no booking fee, from Wentworth Village Shop.

The festival made its debut in 2017 and the afternoon now traditionally gets underway with what has become an annual pop party celebration of the 80s and 90s.

This year it will feature Baby D, Urban Cookie Collective, Brother Beyond and hugely successful 90s boy band Five, performing all of their 11 Top 10 hits, including three number ones – Keep On Movin’, We Will Rock You, with Queen and Let’s Dance.

The teatime tribute slot this year plays hosts to the incredible Bulsara & His Queenies, performing their world-class tribute show to Freddie Mercury and Queen.

So good are this band they have previously been booked by Brian May to perform at the annual Freddie Mercury birthday celebration in Montreux and he said of them: “This remarkable band have their own identity – there are no wigs, no yellow jackets and no attempts to look like Queen. Instead, their whole ethos is to simply perform the songs to an exceptional standard.”

The Main Stage will be opened by amazing brass band The Tin Soldiers and will also feature performances from Tiny Barbara’s Surf Club, featuring festival organiser Toby and Big Shaun of the Everly Pregnant Brothers, and popular Wentworth Festival favourite’s Soul Sensation. Also look out for Fabian – son of legendary Sheffield Grammy award winner Eliot Kennedy.

The Last Laugh Comedy Stage features a stellar line-up of comedians including recent Britain’s Got Talent runner-up Steve Royle, winner of the prestigious Mercury Comedian Of The Year Award 2021 Nina Gilligan, Mick Ferry, Paul Tonkinson and Daisy Earl, to name just a few.

The New Music Stage features an impressive array of up and coming talent from South Yorkshire, headlined this year by two bands that are already well on their way to huge success; Shanghai Treason and The Rosadocs.

The festival also features a Kids Entertainment Village, featuring live comedy shows and funfair rides as well as fun games and activities.

Lcal business Thornbridge Brewery will once again provide the main bar with a wide selection of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, including the return of Wentworth Festival’s own ale Dancing Over Diamonds.

Having previously played host to successful chart acts Tony Hadley, Scouting For Girls, The Feeling, Cast, Heaven 17, Space and Go West amongst so many others, this year promises to be the biggest and best festival so far, say organisers

Toby said; “We started Wentworth Festival as a great local event for local people and the support we’ve had from residents and businesses around us has been incredible.

"We’ve watched the festival grow from the ground upwards. Having survived the Covid crisis, which was obviously terrible for our entire industry, we’re now looking forward and the buzz around this year’s event is like something we haven’t experienced before. People are really ready to come out and have a great time.”

Wentworth Woodhouse is stunning backdrop to the main stageWentworth Woodhouse is stunning backdrop to the main stage
Wentworth Woodhouse is stunning backdrop to the main stage

Co-organiser Steve added; “The beauty of Wentworth Festival is we’re a small but very professional event. Our capacity crowd is just 5,000, surrounded by the most stunning outdoor countryside of Wentworth, so everyone has space to relax and enjoy the event. The infrastructure we provide however – everything from the staging and production to the quality of acts – are the same as you’d find at any large-scale national festival. It really is a unique experience.”