05/08/2026
Wow! What a party! This was voted by the long term Festers as the best one yet. All the bands were brilliant: First on was Tobe on his acoustic guitar trying to remember all these daft songs he wrote back in the last century. Then '648' came on and had a great time messin' with classic rock with a well appreciative audience and you would never have imagined it was their first gig. Next up was MĀCHINE who entertained everyone with some brilliant originals including the extremely sarcastic 'Chavs', the incredibly powerful 'Vague' and the very touching tribute to Russell Vaughn 'Nothing' not to mention their amusing and cleverly written 'Smile' and some right rockin' covers culminating in that Golden Earring classic Radar Love. Then a complete change with the fairly recently formed 'No Idea' playing an eclectic mix of covers old and new and despite the relatively advanced age of a considerable percentage of the audience the band went down very well, cheers to Aaron, Phil, and Guy for their expertise and energy. The headline band this year was [as usual] the incredibly versatile Bates Motel, definitely the musical highlight of the event. With their truly vast range of covers they kept the crowd well entertained until the paraplegic athlete of time fell off the enchanted spakky wagon of reality and it was time for bed. Many thanks to all the musicians who performed: Aaron, Guy, Phil, Bryn, Paul, Charlie, Tobe. Thanks to Aaron for his help with the setup and sound / mixing. Thanks to all who turned up to support us and eat our food on this: our most special day of the year. Thanks go out to the neighbours for not complaining. Very special thanks are due to Hayley for once again doing such a fantastic job not only regarding the top notch food but also for the absolutely beautiful garden [we know how much hard work has gone into that] the HooFest would not happen without her dedication and tenacity. Tobe would like to extend his heartfelt admiration for all the people he doesn't like for being consistent and not turning up. Lastly, we must announce the plans for next years HooFest which will be on Saturday August the 7th. We are going to do the event for charity and raise money for Alzheimer's. Tickets will be £10 each and they should be available from the 1st of September 26 onwards. The first 10 tickets sold [once presented at the event] will include a special limited edition T shirt featuring the faces of all the musicians who have played at the event in the 25 years since the first one. There will be other gear for sale, all the proceeds will go to the charity. Once again megga thanks to everybody and hope to see you next year.
Rock&Roll
