Rock in the Park

Once again the Friends of Ellington Park are celebrating the end of the summer season with a fabulous free music festival. Come to the beautiful bandstand in the park on Saturday 31^st August at 12 noon and listen to some great bands.

As usual, we have a mixture of musical styles designed to please the most discerning ears, starting with the tried and tested trad jazz band of Bert Butler and his Jazz Pilgrims. At 1.30, we have the mellow sounds of Ben Russell and the Charmers. Describing themselves as a New Age reggae band from Canterbury, their style is a cross between Bob Marley style reggae and the acoustic thumb picking of the John Butler Trio. They are followed at 3 o’clock, by Aurora, an East Kent band who offer an innovative and refreshing spin on Electro- Dance-rock with lashings of psychedelic & spacey phasing ~ light and shade for those who are unafraid! Ratcheting up the volume, The Peckham Cowboys will be playing at 4.30. Fronted by the charismatic Rock God, Mark Eden, they feature members who have played in Primal Scream, The Quireboys, Dogs D'Amour, The Ian Hunter Band, Mott the Hoople, Izzy Stradlin and Hanoi Rocks, amongst others. The closing set, at 6 o’clock, is performed by the outstanding Little Devils. Finalists in the New Brunswick Battle of the Bands, they are fronted by Yoka, ‘The Dutch Diva’ who’s got “the voice of an angel, with the devil trapped inside her”. Other band members have played with such legends as Jools Holland, Dana Gillespie and The Blues Band, and their music is guaranteed to be original. Check out the bands on Facebook, YouTube, or websites.

As always, the model railway will be running, there are play areas for the kids, various stalls offering food, drink and knick knacks, and there’s plenty of shade from the sun (or the rain) under the trees, and the park is in easy reach of the station for those who don’t want to drive.