When: July 29-31, 2022
Where: Baldersby Park, Topcliffe, North Yorkshire, England
In a little over two weeks, and after an absence of three years imposed by the pandemic, we will welcome the whole Deer Shed Festival live. The twelfth edition of this three-day family event with great intergenerational appeal will once again be filled with musical, artistic, scientific and sports activities for the enjoyment of the whole family.
Built around a theme this year of pocket planet and promoted as “a celebration of different things from different places”Deer Shed Festival 12 will bring us a wide and diverse range of music, comedy, entertainment, science, sports, spoken word and literary pursuits, theatre, workshops, arts, film and Wilderwild, an exciting exploration of the wildest spaces in the beautiful setting of Baldersby Park whose rolling pastures lie about six miles south-west of the market town of Thirsk.
Here are five things God Is In The TV is looking forward to at this year’s festival:
Stewart Lee presents King Rocker
The famous English comedian, writer and director Stewart Lee presents the anti-rockumentary King Rockerthe film that he and the venerable British comedy director Michael Cumming made on the cult post-punk band The Nightingales.
Stewart Lee is a longtime fan of the Birmingham-based band, its charismatic frontman Robert Lloyd and his previous group The Prefects and describes the two years he spent writing and pitching the project as “a labor of love”.
The feature-length documentary weaves the band’s story with that of a King Kong sculpture that was erected in the city’s Bull Ring shopping center in 1972.
Self love
One of the many artists this year making a most welcome return to Deer Shed, Self love last appeared at the festival three years ago. On this occasion they played around Friday tea time on one of the smaller stages. Illustrating how far the Self Esteem star has come in the meantime, this year they headline second on the main stage of the festival centerpiece on Saturdays.
Prepare to be dazzled by Rebecca Taylor‘s supreme pop project where she will be supported by her fiery band and three backing vocalists who will join her on the towering choruses of her songs and these fabulously choreographed dance routines.
John Francis Flynn
Deer Shed Festival offers four musical stages. The smallest of these is the Acorn Stage, but the Friday night headliner is John Francis Flynn, a great man, with a great personality, and an overflowing talent. Very modestly describing himself as “a Dublin man, a singer of folksongs and player of wind instruments”the time spent in his musical company confirms that he is much more than that.
Having served the most credible time on his hometown folk scene over the previous decade, both as a traditional band leader Skipper’s Alley as well as working with the likes of Irish folk bands You wanderers and Lankumlast year John Francis Flynn released his outstanding debut album I won’t always live. Check it out. I guarantee you won’t be disappointed.
Delia Workshop Derbyshire
A name that may not be immediately familiar to many, Delia Derbyshire was a highly influential electronic musician who in the 1960s worked with the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, one of the national broadcaster’s sound units. Her most famous work – something for which she was never credited during her lifetime (she died in 2001) – is the credits to the classic science fiction television program, Doctor Who.
As part of this year’s Science program, the team of Derbyshire Delia Day – a Manchester-based organization that pays tribute to this pioneer of electronic music – will be coming to the festival to talk about her life, her work and help us create our own Deer Shed theme using sounds that have been recorded from our immediate physical environment.
Court Act
Deer Shed has a long established tradition of showcasing local talent. Coming from nearby Leeds in West Yorkshire, Court Act easily fall into this category. Recently named as the most reserved emerging artist this summer at European festivals, you can see exactly why. Released in January this year, their debut album Overload debuted at number 2 on the UK charts and since then their considerable creative and commercial stock has grown even further. It was only last week that news of a collaboration between Yard Act and no less than Elton John who contributed piano to a new version of the album track ‘100% Endurance’. Catch them early Friday night on the main stage and start your Deer Shed 2022 experience on the right foot.
Full information about Deer Shed Festival 12 and the last remaining tickets for the event can be found on the Official Deer Shed Site
Self-Esteem Photo: Simon Godley
