Access Festival was the brainchild of two students, Mark Dunk and Holly
Barnes-Thomas, back in May 2004. They wanted to do something for the homeless
people of Southampton and decided that putting on a festival could act as a
fundraiser as well as a day of acknowledgement and awareness raising.
The first festival took place in August of 2004 in the bandstand of
Palmerston Park and gathered a crowd of about 150. The festival moved to
Mayflower Park in 2005 and since then has grown in leaps and bounds. Access
Fest 2007 offered five stages and gathered a crowd of over 4,500. Access
offers a wide range of music and works hard to showcase the best talent from
the South.
The festival is run by volunteers and is entirely financed by the efforts of
the team who organise the big day, rally local support and run fundraising
gigs in venues across the city. Access Fest 2008 promises to be bigger than
ever with all the volunteers already working tirelessly to raise the
thousands of pounds required to stage the South Coast's biggest and best free
festival.
This year Access is looking to a return to its core values of making a
difference in the homeless community of Southampton and is working hard with
the Society of St James to make this happen.
The Society of St James is Southampton's local homelessness charity offering
care, support and housing to homeless people in the city for 35 years. St.
James runs a huge range of services including a soup run, a hostel, move on
housing, independent living flats, training and learning and drugs and
addiction services.
Access Festival remains committed to its status as a free festival; access to
music for all aspects of the community is what it's all about! However,
Access is equally committed to its core values of helping homeless people so
this year it is asking festival goers to make a 'suggested donation' of £2 to
the Society of St James on the big day.
For further details on Access Festival or the Society of St James please
contact Holly Barnes-Thomas on 07905 979085 or holly@accessfest.org
