Black Country pride and bostin' weather as Himley Hall welcomes hundreds of people to music festival

Amid hot and sunny weather, people came with seats, umbrellas and everything needed to have a good time listening to the music, buying food and drink from the stalls open around the festival site and taking in the grand splendour of Himley Hall.

The schedule featured homegrown talent across genres including indie, punk, rock, acoustic, soul and choral traditions with the gates opening from 10am and the event running until 9pm.

Entertainers included headliners Giant and The Georges, cover musicians including Joe James Thomas who appeared on Channel 4 reality show The Piano, and The Gentleman Songsters.

Other acts included The Headshrinkers, Sam Draisey & The Revolt, The Empty Can, The NiteCrawlers, Kerry Worton, Vinyl Revival, All Due Respect, Izzy Pop, Jo Millard, Darcie Edwards, Lawrie Jean, Brian Stevens, Matt Johnson, Rockacella, and The Buskateers.

With two stages around the hall, there was something for everyone, including the Mayor of Dudley Pete Lee, who came wearing the ceremonial chains and a very vivid Hawaiian shirt and welcomed all those in attendance in a speech at the start of the festival.

The Mayor, who walked around greeting people with the Mayoress Gloria Lee, said he loved the community aspect of the festival and said he was proud to be part of the event as Dudley's first citizen.

He said: "I'm Mr Community, so I love this because it's a community event and I'm looking around and I'm seeing elderly people, young people and a good mixture in the crowd, so the environment is just brilliant.

"I'm very proud to wear these chains and it means a lot to me for both of us to be here today as Mayor and Mayoress.

"I think today can be the platform for future festivals as you can see people enjoying themselves and they're coming here to chill and enjoy the music and enjoy the weather, as we don't usually get this sort of weather."

The event was a change to the usual format of a tribute festival or similar type of event and had been the culmination of a lot of work by the organising committee.

James Stevens, who works to organise events each year for Black Country Day, said he felt really good to be there and see everyone enjoying themselves.

He said: "I don't think we could have got off to a better start if I'm honest, with the Gentleman Songsters putting on a great show, and it speaks to what this event is of community engagement, of everyone checking their egos at the door and coming for a day of music that spans all genres.

"There's always been a music festival of some kind here, but we rebranded it as the Black Country Music Festival so that people understand what it is, so while this is the first of its kind, we've got 10 years of experience of doing these kind of events and they're only going to get better.

"We've seen more people through the day than we have done before and, of course, the weather has helped, and I'm just over the moon with what we've achieved."