Eel Pie Records is hosting its third High Tide Festival on 17 July in Twickenham.
After opening their shop in 2017, Eel Pie Records co-owners Kevin Jones and Phil Penman founded the festival with the aim of creating a community hub where people of all ages and diversities come together to enjoy and experience music together.
The event is free and people wanting to go do not need to purchase tickets but in order to make the event happen, Eel Pie are fundraising through a crowdfunding page.
Jones said that using crowdfunding embeds the event in the community as it shares the ownership around a broader number of people and it makes the event more collaborative and personal.
He added: “Whether you’re rich or poor you can come along to High Tide and there will be something there to entertain you.
“We wanted to create something that was diverse: a range of music types, a range of ages, a good gender balance, all the things which you don’t necessarily see in some festivals.
“Our vision was to move away from the old style of music and find a new varied line up that has more diverse performers and genres.
“There’s not much music you won’t find there.”
The music styles available at High Tide include blues, jazz, electronic, folk, Americana, country, semi-classical and more.
Past attendees praised the festival for exposing them to new types of music.
Not only have the past festivals brought music lovers together, but it financially benefited Twickenham’s businesses as it brought a lot of revenue to the area.
The first High Tide festival was held back in 2019.
Richmond Council then encouraged the pair to make the festival happen again in September, and it ended up being twice the size as their first one.
They have grown from having five stages in 2019 to 15 stages this year.
Attendees this year can not only expect quality music from professional musicians but also a variety of street food stalls and drink stalls provided by Twickenham businesses.
The main stage will be located between the York House car park and Civic Centre and is sponsored by drinks retailer Brewery Market, Church Street, Twickenham.
One of their headliners this year includes a Reggae Band.
Other locations will include Diamond Jubilee Gardens, Church Lane car park, Eel Pie Pub, Wags and Tails, The Shack, The Cabbage Patch, The Exchange Theatre, The Royal Oak and more.
Brewery Market will host the festival’s first comedy stage.
There will be a number of charities present on the day such as Off the Record, The Real Junk Food Project and Tonic Music for Mental Health.
This year’s High Tide festival is expected to be bigger and better than ever.
For more information about how to get involved you can find their crowdfunding page here.
