A free music festival which took place across various venues in an East Lancashire town has been hailed a success, with organisers already planning their next offering.
The DBL Town Music Fest 2022 was held in Darwen from 1pm on Saturday and featured live music across several of the town's bars and clubs.
Organised by Darwen Bars and Leisure (DBL), which is run by bar owner and entrepreneur Gary Perkins, the event was put together in association with Youth Zone Darwen and Talk Ourselves Well, an organisation which gives people in Darwen the opportunity to talk about mental ill health, illness, health and wealth.
Gary said: "This was an event by the town, for the town, and was a combination of all the venues across Darwen working together to bring a day of live music, DJs, performance acts and much more."
Kicking off in The Vault at 1pm, the festival ran across venues such as The Taps Bar, The Bank, Spitfire, Bridge Street Social, Cin Cin, Sunbird Records, and Millstone.
And with indoor as well as outdoor stages, the festival was a huge success for the town, bringing music lovers to not only Darwen's bars and pubs, but to the high street itself.
The rain didn’t stop people from turning out either, and Gary said that although some of the outdoor stages were affected by the bad weather, the indoor stages were bouncing.
He added: "The weather wasn't with us, but that didn't stop a lot of people from supporting the town and I want to say a massive thank you to all involved.
"I didn't make it round to some of the bars that participated in the music festival on Saturday, so thank you to the following places...Olive Bar Darwen, The Cock, Artisan, Bridge Street Sports and Social Club, Sunbird Records, Cin Cin, The Millstone Darwen, Number 39 - Hopstar Brewery Tap...hope you all had a busy one."
Hundreds braved the rain to watch a Little Mix tribute, and live DJs took to the decks throughout the day and well into the early evening.
A spokesperson for Darwen Bars and Leisure said: “Thanks to everyone that came out yesterday to our Darwen town mini music festival in association with Youth Zone Darwen and TALK Ourselves WELL.
“The weather wasn’t on our side to start with, but we all made the most out of it and it soon brightened up.
“Thanks to Darwen School of Music for putting on a great show inside The Vault all afternoon with performances from their students.
“And a round of applause to every single solo artist, band member and DJ who performed across all venues around the town throughout the day and made the show what it was.
“Last but not least, thanks to all the other venues around the town that joined in with the co-promotion and participation and being involved in what was another great day for the town, with hopefully many more to come in the future. Until next time, team D.B.L.”
Keep up to date with details of the next D.B.L event by following them on Facebook @darwenbarsandleisure.
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