Amble by the Park Charity Music Festival hosted by The Amble Inn, Harpenden and Cloudcat Music

Yesterday afternoon I happened to stumble upon a wonderful little music festival at the Amble Inn, Harpenden.  When we arrived the garden was filled with people sitting around enjoying the live music; there were two stages which hosted a multitude of bands spanning a wide variety of taste (one of them was the top of the children's play slide which had been named 'The acoustic tree house',) a barbeque, a hog roast, a cake stall, an extra outside bar and some extras for the children including face painting, balloons and giant beach balls for them to play with.  It was amazing that the garden of a little Harpenden pub had been transformed into a music festival- the atmosphere was great; it was an event for the whole family!

The day was free, but there were two charities at the centre of it all and collection buckets were prominently placed. The first charity was one very close to Amble manager Joe Brouder's heart; St. Benedict's hospice.  St. Benedict's provides specialist care to maintain and enhance the quality of life for people with life-threatening illnesses, their service is free, which means our support could change so much for the better.  The second charity was Keech Hospice, whose purpose is to both care for patients and support their families and friends; they aim to give the most appropriate care so that patients can lead acceptable, purposeful and fulfilling lives in their homes or in the hospice.

The line up for the day was brilliant and included;  Dead Pinup's, Nick Stephenson, Rucksack, James Kirby, Sarah Boughton, Kirsty Williams, Rae Kelly, Dom Pusey, David Hoare, Kiss My Brass, Pete Waters, The Zipheads, April Blue, Matt Arnerich, Caution Horses, Fez Saville, Persuaders, Tankus the Henge and Vinyl Ritchie.  It was a great way to introduce children to the 'festival scene'- my two had a lovely time!  The only downside to the event was that it was cut to one day due to health and safety issues; we'd have definitely gone back on the Sunday and brought a load of friends with us to share what was an unmissable event!

I'm hoping that the festival becomes an annual one- we'll definitely be keeping our eyes open for future dates!