TEN YEARS OF SMITHDOWN FESTIVAL
Take a trip back to 2015! Smithdown Road was farmland and flatcaps as far as the eye could see, horse and cart was the preferred method of transport, and everything was in black and white. All the pubs served yards of mead.
Then, along came Smithdown Street Party! The brainchild of Kev McArthur and Andy Scott brought together six local venues - Evil Eye (now The Beeswing), Kellys Dispensary, Franks, The Willowbank, Cafe Kerouac (now Nomad) and Oomoo (now Cafe Oro) for a great big bank holiday weekend party, with the idea of trying to revitalise the area and turn it into the destination it deserves to be!
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With incredible artists such as Tommy Scott (Space), Zombina and The Skeletones, Sheepy, Strange Collective and loads more taking to the stages, as well as comedy from Sam Avery and everyone's favourite quizmaster Che Burnley, the bar was set high!
Poster for 2015 Smithdown Street Party
Fast forward to 2016, and a wise decision was made - stop confusing people by calling it a Street Party, because we can't afford to get the road closed...and the thoughtfully named Smithdown Road Festival was decided upon! The festival had grown to ten venues, and thousands of people descended upon the area. Line up highlights included Beans On Toast, Tony Wright (Terrorvision), Natalie McCool, Hers, and Pete Bentham & The Dinnerladies. A program of non-musical events including Merseyswing dance lessons, Infinite Wrestling Show, art exhibitions and a pop up cinema were also introduced.
We made the commitment to use Smithdown Road Festival as a platform to support and fundraise for the Whitechapel Centre for Homeless People across Merseyside, and we've been supporting them ever since!
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September 2016, we also launched our second annual event, then known as Smithdown Festival Student Party - as a way of welcoming back students to the area after the summer break.
Poster for 2016 Smithdown
Road Festival
Poster for 2016 Student Party
2017 took us to the Palm House for our main stage area, and what a weekend that was! With headline sets from Space and Craig Charles, as well as Dave McCabe playing Zutons classics and so many more, and a certain Idles making an appearance - it was a truly momentous weekend for the area. On top of this, two fantastic new venues were born - namely Handymans Pub and Craft Taproom (now of course, Black Cat). With the help of Paul Laing (Franks Bar) the festival was now firmly on the map.
Poster for 2017 Student Party
2018 was the year we got a bit too big for our boots! After three years of madness, we finally put a huge outdoor festival on at The Mystery Park (Wavertree Playground). Over 30,000 people attended over the weekend to see acts such as John Power, Beardyman, festival favourites Space, The Lancashire Hotpots and The Mysterines across two stages on the park as well as 14 more stages throughout the Smithdown area.
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We hosted two incredible fundraisers this year too, with our two day summer Party at The Palm House and October's Smithdown Crawl - a wristband only event that took place across six venues.
Poster for 2018 Smithdown
Road Festival
Poster for 2018 Party at the Palm House
Stage splits for the 2018 Smithdown Crawl
2019 we trimmed things down again! Although there wasn't a huge outdoor stage at the Mystery this year, we held an amazing outdoor family event at The Mystery Garden - as well as ten music stages across the area.
The October Student Party had by now been renamed The All Dayer, due to the obvious fact that Smithdown Road has such a diverse population, and everyone is welcome!
Stage splits for 2019 Smithdown
Road Festival
Stage splits for 2019 All Dayer
2020 was of course the year the world stood still. We weren't completely down and out however, as a group of wonderful musicians agreed to help us host the Smithdown Virtual Festival - an online live music event streamed via our social media channels.
Flyer for 2020 Smithdown Virtual Festival
2021 and for the most part live music was still off the table, but with certain rules in place we were able to host two fantastic events known as All Out Garden Party at Sefton Park Cricket Club. Finally we could get together, albeit sensibly distanced! With live music from Ali Horn and Stompin Thompson, this was a wonderful moment of normality in what had been a heartbreaking year for so many.
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By September 2021, we were allowed to party again! We dropped the "Road" and held Smithdown Festival across multiple venues as well as a brilliant outdoor family area at the Cricket Club.
Flyer for 2021 All Out Garden Party
Poster for 2021 Smithdown Festival
Flyer for 2021 Family Area
2022 - 24 and things changed again! This time with the introduction of the Smithdown Weekender. As post-covid funding got tighter, we had to scale back our ambitions! We kept events to the indoor venues, with no "main stage" to speak of - and so it was only right to save the Smithdown Festival name for when we were ready to come back with a bigger bang. The Smithdown Weekender has been incredible every time, with crowds as big and excitable as ever.
Poster and stage splits for 2022 Smithdown Weekender
Stage splits for May Bank Holiday 2023 Smithdown Weekender
Stage splits for October 2023 Smithdown Weekender
Stage splits for May Bank Holiday 2024 Smithdown Weekender
Stage splits for October 2024 Smithdown Weekender
2025 as we hit ten years of crazy days and nights on Smithdown Road, it seems only right to have another great big party for the whole community, and we cannot wait!
