A MUSIC festival has raised a record-breaking amount for a much-loved Worcester charity.
Woo Fest took place in Upton Upon Severn earlier this month and raised more than £30,000 for St Richard’s Hospice.
The festival, which will celebrate its 10th year in 2024, has now raised more than £140,000 for the hospice since it started.
Planning for next year’s event has already started - but festival-fgoers won’t have to wait 12 months to get their next taste of Woo Fest action.
Organisers say Winter Woo will be taking place at the Marrs Bar in Worcester on Friday, December 15 - and tease that more information including a “very special line-up announcement” will be coming soon.
Luke Simons, who runs the festival, said he was “chuffed” with how it had gone.
“We had a great time - a good mix of sunshine and some proper downpours as well but everyone just stayed out in the rain and carried on partying,” he said.
“We sold out in terms of tickets and were 18 per cent up on how much we raised.
“A lot of that is down to sponsorship and the food - our Woo Fest Kitchen is entirely run by volunteers and every single ingredient used was donated, so every penny from that went straight to the hospice.
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“We had lots of different music - 20 acts in total across two stages - and plenty for the kids to do like crafts, bouncy castles and slides.”
The festival has grown massively since its inception and with a winter event to organise as well, is pretty much a year-round effort.
“It never stops really,” said Luke. “It’s grown and grown.
“We only did it as a one-off in memory of my dad and to say thank you to the hospice, but it’s carried on from there.
“We even have a storage container now that was donated to us - it’s great because all the things we’d accumulated and had donated to us over the years were just being kept in volunteers’ houses.”
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