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The three-day all-ages charity festival by the bank of the Thames in Caversham returns from July 12th to 14th raising funds for the local community

This year’s Readipop not only offers Ash, Echobelly, Republica, Fabio & Grooverider among many more but it is also set to be the most sustainable yet.

Joining the headliners are a diverse array of new and established artists including energetic festival mainstays Dub Pistols, Welsh tongue-in-cheek rappers Goldie Lookin’ Chain (playing a legends set), Manchester indie-dance pioneers A Certain Ratio, BBC 6Music favourites from Holland, Pip Blom and 1980s Reading punk band International Resque playing their final show together.

Readipop will be showcasing their valuable work across the weekend, including AAA takeovers, presenting an array of local talent who learn musical skills at the charity’s weekly AAA youth club alongside live sets from artists signed to their Riser Music label and their community bands. In addition, Readipop XOX Project Live will be performing a set of classic tracks to demonstrate the vintage drum machines and synthesisers that will make up part of Readipop’s upcoming XOX Project museum.

Festival Producer Molly Banbury says: “We’ve seen our highest ever ticket sales to date for this point and are so grateful to everyone that has already shown their support for this year’s event. Not only will it be our biggest Readipop Festival so far but also our most sustainable!”

She adds the small team “are determined to see our charity festival flourish with community and sustainability at the heart of everything we do. This year we created a sustainability ‘pathway’ plan. This pathway maps out our ambitions creating achievable steps for us to reach our green goals over several years, helping us to make continuous environmentally conscious improvements.”

Molly believes the location is one of the biggest positives for Readipop with its proximity to Reading station, a mere 10 minute walk, and less with nearby bus routes. She adds: “We want to continue to improve upon this by encouraging travel by bike this year and offering secure bike storage inside the grounds.”

BBC Introducing in Oxfordshire and Berkshire have selected three up-and-coming acts which they will host in the Purple Turtle tent on Friday 12th.

Readipop’s family area will be open on Saturday and Sunday afternoons featuring craft, music and dance workshops, story telling, immersive performances and other fun activities featuring local arts and music organisations including Jelly, Dance Reading, Tankata Percussion, MiniMixers DJs and more.

Reading’s Indie Market also comes to the site on Saturday and Sunday bringing all stalls full of locally produced festival-friendly arts, crafts and clothes stalls. Purple Turtle bars serve local craft beer and real ale all weekend alongside a selection of lagers, ciders, spirits and wine.

Tickets and more at READIPOP FESTIVAL

Roni Size at Readipop Q&A

Liz Nicholls

readipop

Liz Nicholls chats to the pioneering DJ & record producer Roni Size, 53, ahead of his star turn at Readipop Festival in Reading on 14th July

Q. Hello Roni. What’s your first memory of music?

“I’m fortunate: I was brought up in a family of music because I come from Jamaican descent. Every weekend, whether it was my parents’ house or a cousin’s house they would have a gathering with lots of reggae music, soca, Red Stripes for the adults. We’d be sent to bed early; you could still hear the beats of the bass and the chattering of voices from downstairs. The sounds helped me fall asleep, and they’re embedded into me. I’d wake up in the morning and the house would be back to normal so it would be like some kind of musical dream.”

Q. Can you tell us a bit about Sefton Park Youth Centre & what a difference it made to your life?

“Yes. This was a building I stumbled on by accident with my cousins – we used to wander around St Andrews, where I lived in Bristol. There wasn’t much to do there. I wasn’t a fan of school so I didn’t really go; they didn’t mind, they didn’t care. The youth centre had a bunch of guys and strong-willed women who would ask you what you wanted to do, not tell you what to do, like a curriculum. They got some nets for us to play basketball, but I wasn’t that good because I’m only 5ft8. They asked what else we might like to try and we said photography so some people gravitated towards that. I said I liked music so they got turntables, a sound flow, mixer, some second-hand records and I loved that. It escalated into them building a studio, which became the Basement Project.

I used to spend all my time here, and became one of the tutors. The kids would say ‘what are you doing’ and I’d say ‘well, I’m learning how to scratch, how to mix, how to work the sound flow, work this drum machine…’ and they’d say ‘oh can you show me?’ OK! That’s how I became a youth worker. That was it for me – from there on in I was in the dark basement, making music and showing the kids how to make music. We started to use it as an outreach project and that was my calling, working five days a week, showing people how to make music. So many people who are successful in music in Bristol have gone through Sefton Park.”

Q. The Readipop charity team offer a lot of support with mental health. How do you take good care of your mental health?

“That’s a great question. I’ve gone through stages. You start off making music surrounded by people who are your best friends, who’ve got your back, then you drift apart… and that’s a story in itself. It can affect you mentally. The internet and social media seemed a great way to reconnect with old friends when it came in at the beginning, but it’s not real. I think being on social media is a challenge mentally: people are clicking the camera and smiling, then as soon as the camera’s off they’re dead inside, and that is a real issue. I don’t have the answers but it helps my own mental health to leave my phone off for two days – if I can – and just do my thing, go to the studio, enjoy making music. I keep myself active, have a routine. I’ll get up and do my 20 push-ups or 20 pull-ups and then I’ll make breakfast. I make sure I’ve got something positive to counteract whatever negative is coming; the news doesn’t help. There’s a lot of stuff out there that works against us so find what works for you.”

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Get ready for Readipop

Karen Neville

readipop

The friendly music festival is back in Caversham with another great line-up

Reading’s friendly homegrown music and arts festival is back at Christchurch Meadows from 12th to 14th July.

And this year Readipop Festival is set to host the biggest line-up yet including headliners the Brand New Heavies, Sleeper and The Orb.

Reggae chart toppers Musical Youth and 80s Indie group The Primitives also feature alongside Fuzzbox, Mark Chadwick from The Levellers and Mark Morriss of The Bluetones.

Grammy nominees are set to rub shoulders beside artists behind almost 80 top 40 UK hits, Radio 1 and 6Music staples as well as a huge range of local Reading acts.

In addition to the music, there’ll be circus performances from Aim to Fly UK and workshops, an Indie market courtesy of Etsy and Thames Rivercruise boat trips to enjoy as well as much more.

All profit from the festival goes to help Readipop’s charity music projects in the area.

Readipop works to make a positive difference to people’s lives by developing creativity and developing communities. Their work often includes reaching out to socially excluded people and emerging artists.

The charity, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, offers a variety of projects for young people including sessions with experienced mentors, intensive week-long courses for NEETs and a range of workshops. It also offers programmes in primary and secondary schools as well as projects for adults and older people such as community bands, choirs and bands for retired people and concerts in care homes.

Weekend tickets for Readipop Festival are £40, with day tickets from £18 to £23 available until 30th June (under 14s free with adults).

Find out more

For more information and to get tickets visit the Readipop website