A MUSIC festival raising money for Macmillan Cancer Support saw The Mannequins and The Dave Sharp Young Musicians Workshop Band wow crowds in Thurlestone.

Shedstock Festival was held at Whitely Farm, Thurlestone, on Saturday, July 2, and the organisers are hoping to make it an annual event.

Eric Palmer, who owns the venue and helped organise the event with Ian Feetenby and Toby Robinson, said it went ‘really well’ and he is expecting it to grow in the next few years.

He said: ‘The Mannequins were really good, I was really blown away by them. They usually play pubs so it was nice for people to see them on a big stage. We had full lighting rigs from L&A Lighting and it looked amazing.’

The Dave Sharp Young Musicians Workshop Band, Kindred Sprit, Matt Sellors and the Funkland DJs also played sets and the catering was provided by Bellissimo Pizza and Catering, who Eric said ‘helped out a lot’ with the event.

Carolyn Pedrick Vowles posted on the Shedstock Facebook page saying: ‘Brilliant evening, great music in a great location. Hope you made lots of money. Big thank you to all involved. Looking forward to the next one.’

Martin Cording said: ‘Congratulations Ian and all those involved, was a great event and hopefully the foundation for many more to come!’

Eric allowed people to pitch tents or campers in his fields for a small donation to the Macmillan collection buckets meaning everyone could get on with dancing the night away without working out a designated driver or taxis to get home.

Eric had recently provided the venue for the Year 11 and Sixth Form proms for Kingsbridge Community College at Whitely Farm. He said: ‘Normally these events annoy some people because of the noise and general chaos but there was none this year. The police praised the events and said no-one had complained.

‘The location is perfect for that because the noise comes out of the barn and goes north, and there isn’t anyone in that direction for about half a mile. We drove around to check and you couldn’t hear it outside a few hundred metres.

‘Our nearest neighbours came round the next day and asked what we were setting up for, I had to tell them it had already happened, they didn’t hear anything! I’d be more than happy to host those events again.’

The final total for the money raised by Shedstock for the Macmillan Cancer Support is still being worked out but we will update as soon as we can. Eric thanked everyone involved for making the event a success.