Music students from St Vincent College in Gosport will be appearing on the same festival bill as top acts including The Proclaimers, Midge Ure, Mary Black and Toyah Wilcox.
The college’s young performers, as well as sound engineers and technicians studying there, have been invited to not only play several slots at the Wickham Festival from August 3 to 6 but also run a local music stage.
Music teacher Chris Harris said the invitation has come from organiser Cllr Peter Chegwyn. “We were originally invited there by Quay West Studios in Gosport a few years back when they ran a stage there. When they were not involved last year I had a meeting with Peter and he offered us a slot on the main stage.
“He also came into the college and spoke to the students about how the festival got started and how he became involved in music. He offered us the main stage slot but then came up with the idea of the local music stage.”
Pictured: St Vincent College musicians will be playing at the Wickham Festival next week
The college’s 40 music and music technology students will be responsible for organising and running the stage as well as playing on the main stage. “It’s a brilliant opportunity for them because it will give them real experience which will help them when they are looking for other work experience or jobs,” said Mr Harris.
“There’s a shortage of sound engineers at venues at the moment so this gives our producers an opportunity to run the sound and stage at a major award-winning festival. They’ll also be involved in all the planning.”
All of the young performers will get a chance to play on stage. “We’ll potentially put a collective together so they all get the opportunity to play a song in a set where everyone gets involved,” said Mr Harris. “It’s going to be brilliant for them and we are very grateful to Peter for the invitation. He’s a big supporter of local music and understands that some of these young people could end up working with him one day.”