THE CIRCL8 TIMES: TEN YEARS IN: LOUD N LOCAL RETURNS:

Ten years in: Loud N Local returns to Alexander’s Live:

Bank Holiday Sunday 30 August · Alexander’s Live, Chester · Midday to 2AM

Loud N Local has been running since 2016 and it has become one of the things Chester does genuinely well. An all-day festival in the heart of the city, tucked into Rufus Court with the old Roman walls running alongside the beer garden, three stages, twenty acts, food, bars and a crowd that tends to stay for all of it. This year it turns ten, and Alexander’s Live and Restless Bear are marking that with their biggest edition yet.

The festival has always had a clear purpose: give Chester’s music scene a proper stage. Not a showcase in a function room. A real festival day, with real production, that runs from midday to the early hours. Over the years it has helped establish artists who have gone on to build real followings. Campfire Social, Sustinere and Nope Rope have all come through Loud N Local and are back again this year, which says something about what the event means to the people who play it.

The Main Stage in the garden opens at 12:30 with Scarper and builds through Esque, Dave Jahvu and Jonny Sax, Medusa Luna, Ozlona and Campfire Social before Holly Head come down from Manchester at 7pm. Sustinere close out the evening. The Courtyard Stage runs in parallel, with Anti Honey, Vanity Firm, Deleter from Manchester, Nope Rope and RetroPxssy up from London among the highlights. Then the Restless Bear Stage inside takes over from 10pm with Bathing Suits travelling down from Leeds to headline, carrying things through to 2am.

A final wave of acts is still to be announced, so the lineup isn’t complete yet. What’s already there is strong. What gets added could push it further.

Early bird tickets are nearly gone. At £8 they represent real value for a fourteen-hour day. Advance tickets are £12, with £20 on the door. Under 12s get in free. It is family friendly until the evening, and then it becomes something else entirely.

Ten years is a long time to keep something like this running. Chester should be proud of it.