Enjoy Wolverhampton Live! brings festival fun, music and life to city centre
Wet weather could not dampen the spirits as a city centre became a festival centre for a day.
The Enjoy Wolverhampton Live! free festival on Saturday, August 7, saw Queen Square transformed into a live venue, with a stage at the end of the road surrounded by seating.
There was live entertainment for youngsters during the day and a full live concert in the evening and despite the changeable weather, there was a steady stream of people coming up to watch the show.
Those in attendance were also able to enjoy a range of food and drink choices, with the Parisian running an outdoor bar and Thai Kitchen among those offering food.
Entertainment included Sid Sloane from CBeebies, a performance of Disney classics, a DJ set from Graeme Park and an evening headline set from M People singer Heather Small, supported by S Club 7 singer Jo Meara.
The event was organised and funded by Wolverhampton Business Improvement District, for whom BID Director Cherry Shine said the day was about having fun and bringing footfall back to the city centre.
She said: "We've seen a lot of families coming into the city centre, which has been fabulous to see and while we appreciate the weather hasn't been great, it's not put people off coming along.
"This is one of the events we would always want to put on and after having a year off last year due to Covid, we wanted to put this on to support the businesses in the city and make sure people know we can put on events here.
"It's fantastic to put this on as we need live music and everyone has had such a hard 18 months, so I'm just pleased to be able to put this on and, hopefully, it's the start of many things to come."
The event was hosted throughout the day by "The voice of Wolverhampton" Dicky Dodd, who said it was just what the city needed.
He said: "All of us have been locked down for so long and we've been yearning to have events like this, so it's just great to be back on the stage in front of people again.
"There's been lots of people enjoying themselves and lots of families smiling, even though the weather hasn't been great, and I'm really pleased to be involved with this.
"We've had challenging times in this city, with a lot of things changing, but this, to me, is what we all need and it's great to be back out again."
Among those taking in the day were Nate Ethan, director of TNB Connect, who said it was great to see the city holding a free event after so long.
He said: "Today is an inspiration for me and I can say the weather hasn't put anyone off, so it's great to see an event like this that brings people together.
"I'm here to showcase TNB Connect and we have a lot of talented people who would love to perform on a stage like that, so it's inspiring to see the event and the possibilities it brings."
Traci Powis was among many who had stopped by to watch the event with her daughter Rebecca Powis and her granddaughter Charlotte Strong.
She said: "It's been great to stand here and watch the show and just keep up with what's going on and we've all enjoyed our day so far.
"I think it's really good for the children as it gives them something to do and I think it's really good for the city to see events like this taking place."
