Northumberland music festival shortlisted for national award, as early-bird 2017 tickets are released

Lindisfarne Festival, which is held at Beal Farm overlooking Holy Island, has enjoyed year-on-year growth of 30% in revenue and is one of 12 finalists for the Grass Roots Festival Award at the annual celebration.

It is up against 2000Trees, Balter Festival, Barn on the Farm, Beermageddon, Bloodstock Open Air, Green Man Festival, LeeFest Presents The Neverland, New Forest Folk Festival, Samphire Festival, The Secret Festival and Wildfire Adventure Camp. The winner will be announced on Monday (November 28).

The UK Festival Awards sees the cream of British festivals being recognised for hard work, vision and creativity in what has been an exceptionally challenging year for the industry.

The Grass Roots Festival Award recognises 'the courage, commitment and often personal sacrifice invested by their organisers, but also celebrates their dedication to retain the authenticity of their festival brand keeping them close to their original roots, supporting local communities and new music, whilst maintaining an independent spirit and resisting commercial saturation'.

The over 18s Northumberland event will also releasing their first wave of early bird tickets for the 2017 event on Monday.

Conleth Maenpaa, founder of Lindisfarne Festival said: “As a young, independent festival, it is an honour to be shortlisted alongside some of UK’s most established events. In just two years, we have come a long way from a concept to now being recognised as not only the number one music festival in the North East but also a well-regarded player on the UK festival scene.

"I won’t sugar-coat it; it’s been a hell of a tough ride to get here. Last year, was a struggle for both ourselves and the festival industry on the whole. The industry is changing, as we see many festivals unfortunately pulling the plug (eg: Wickerman, Down to the Woods) and others such as T in the Park forced to take a year or so off. We almost had no choice but to sell-out in order to push ahead but on deep reflection we feel our team, our festival-goers and our region deserves better than a corporate driven, money-hungry, festival monster. That’s not what Lindisfarne Festival is about.

"Lindisfarne Festival is all about creating community and providing a safe and fun place where people can get together, escape the day-to-day traumas and immerse themselves in new experiences and great music (across six stages) in an area of outstanding natural beauty. We have turned down big investment from corporates so that we can maintain our much-loved grass-roots vibe and hope to continue to grow organically year-on-year, by listening and learning from our customers and getting bigger and better as we go.”

Lindisfarne Festival 2017 takes place from August 31 to September 3. A limited number of early-bird tickets are available from Monday at £65 for the weekend (Fri–Sun) and £75 for the full festival (Thurs–Sun), saving up to £25 on face-value tickets, which will be priced at £99 for (Thurs-Sun) tickets and £89 for (Fri-Sun) tickets, which will go on sale in the New Year.

Conleth said: "We are encouraging people to buy early, not only to save money, but to enable us to secure the best acts and deliver the best line-up possible.”