Redefest

14/04/2026

𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐀𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐑𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐭

It is with a heavy heart that, after almost 20 years of running the annual community festival in Rochester, the organisers have taken the difficult decision to cancel future events. This decision follows several challenges, including reduced attendance, rising costs, and difficulties recruiting volunteers to committee positions. Sadly, this has also been the fate of several other independent festivals, operating in increasingly challenging environments.

While the stage may be going dark for now, we want to take a moment to celebrate the incredible community that made this festival possible year after year.

We want to extend our deepest gratitude to:

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐅𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬: For graciously allowing us to transform your fields into a home for music.

𝐂𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐞𝐧 𝐂𝐚𝐟𝐞, 𝐑𝐨𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐅𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐬: For your unwavering support and for keeping us all well-fed and watered

𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐋𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐲, For support, sponsorship, Beers, and so much more

𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐕𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐬: The heartbeat of the festival. We couldn't have gone on for so long without your selfless hard work.

𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐬: For bringing the color, the flavor, and the literal roof over our heads.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐬: To the many artists who shared their talent with us—thank you for the soundtrack to so many unforgettable memories.

𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭, 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐀𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞: Your energy and love for live music is what made Redefest so special.

Finally, we must apologise to everyone affected by this decision, including our loyal local supporters, musicians, artists, traders, suppliers, and volunteers, but after hours of heartsearching, we could not find any other workable options

𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐣𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐲:

𝐖𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬. 𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐯𝐢𝐚 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚 𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐬𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡@𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐥.𝐜𝐨.𝐮𝐤.

The Redefest Team

22/09/2025

Don't forget this great festival , the Allen Valleys Folk Festival, Ticket availability in main post , Have a great weekend, both visitors and organisers, and if you go, don't forget to buy the volunteers a beer, it wouldn't happen without the many unseen hours they put in before, during and after, all to support live music and spoken word

Our banners are up and it promises to be a busy but hugely enjoyable festival weekend. Please see below for our full programme of events, and to answer questions about tickets, free events, and what is sold out and what isn't.

Our Friday evening music concerts at the village hall (Jordan Aikin & Quercus and Rachael McShane and the Cartographers), our Saturday afternoon concerts at the village hall (Cosys Ex abd Eabhal) and at St. Cuthbert's Church (Con'tylia and Songs We Carry) and our Sunday afternoon concerts at the village hall (Sherburn Barley Sanders, Hedera and Cosmo Sheldrake) are all SOLD OUT and entry will be by wristband only.

Our family ceilidh, led by Wear'd Aliens takes place at the village hall on Saturday afternoon between 4:00pm and 6:00pm and tickets will be available on the door at £10 per adult and accompanied under 18s are free.

Tickets are also available to buy on the door for our standing Saturday night concerts at the village hall with Zawose Queens and Bonfire Radicals. Tickets are £20 and the music starts at 8:30pm.

You don't need tickets to enjoy our open mic sessions at The Forge, our spoken word events at Allendale Library, our dance in the village centre or the burning of the Allendale Wolf bonfire (which starts at 6:30pm on Saturday evening).

We also have a full programme of workshops and guided walks. These are free of charge but need to be booked as places are limited.

We hope to see you over our festival weekend.

29/08/2025

➡️LOST PROPERTY⬅️

From Redefest 2025... See pics below - all items of kids clothing/coats. Just give us a shout by commenting below if you recognise any items. Thanks Redefesters!!!

Or msg either through WhatsApp or messenger, contacts available through this FB page. Thanks folks!!

08/08/2025

Keep you smiling as the nights start to draw in, should be a good gig

Frankie Archer plays in Allendale on her Demon Lover tour this autumn …

Feminist electrofolk musician and producer and Guardian 'One to Watch' Frankie Archer will be playing at Allendale Village Hall on the evening of Friday 17th October as a part of her Demon Lover autumn tour

Frankie Archer’s imaginative and bold mash of electro alt-trad shows her deep love of electronic and experimental music and her Northumbrian roots.

Frankie played at our 2023 Allen Valleys Folk Festival and again in Allendale in December of the same year (after her performance on Later with Jools Holland). it will be lovely to welcome her back to the village. Tickets are now available via the link in the comments below.

Frankie Archer Music
Allendale Village Hall

04/08/2025

so when you have all had a little rest, I know the Redefest team are having one (well I am anyway, some of the others have to work 🥲), don't forget our Neighbour Festival Bellingham All Acoustic Music Festival, Superb Music once again, Great food, If you liked The Greekster he will be bringing a taste of Greece to Bellingham for Bellingham All Acoustic Music Festival, More superb The First & Last Brewery, beer and a fantastic friendly atmosphere, and maybe a few surprises, Medieval siege engines may or may not be in evidence you just never know what madcap Idea PAUL MASON Ukuleles will have next, but rest assured you will have a great weekend, or just pop along for one of the concerts, Various tickets available here, I will look forward to serving you at the Bar

Welcome to BAAFest All Acoustic Music Festival at Bellingham, Northumberland, A boutique music festival, perfect for the older connoisseurs of folk music

04/08/2025

For those of you that came, we hope you enjoyed it, for those that didn't make it you missed an absolute belter of a festival, awesome music, fantastic Beer and Food and a brilliant atmosphere, and, almost above all, we had sunshine , here are some pictures of what you missed, photos thanks to Michael Kelly, Ian K Brown and
Neil Denham https://www.facebook.com/neildenhamphoto

01/08/2025

so tonights the Night, Redefest starts, we have to be the cheapest weekend festival in the country, Come on down and say hello, great Music, great beer from local breweries , great craic , The Greekster feeding you tonight, or get Fish and Chips from Rochester Relish, the on site cafe, Tomorrow The Greekster, the Cafe and the wonderful TyneThai street food , all there for you, and only £10 per person , and , keep this quiet, actually no, go tell everybody , if you just pop down tonight, entry is free for the evening, a small donation wouldn't go amiss though :-) see you at the bar

The Baldy Holly Band are an Internationally acclaimed high-energy rock n roll outfit, who have travelled the globe, entertaining fans and clients alike, with

30/07/2025

Redefest - THIS WEEKEND! 🎼🎸🎤

24/07/2025

Well the joy of organizing Festivals, It seems that a member of Hair of the Derg has been struck down, so, sadly they can't play at Redefest, However even at this late stage we have not been defeated, out of every disaster something good happens, Our stalwart BandBooker Mister Mick Kelly has spent two days on the phone, sending emails, whatsapping, messengering , and generally not sleeping and has managed to Book the Magnificent ..............................𝐁𝐚𝐥𝐝𝐲 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐝 ...To open Redefest , ......................................
https://www.facebook.com/Baldyholly https://thebaldyhollyband.com/
This band are the real deal. From start to finish they entertain with passion, class and most of all, energy!, you really don't want to miss them

The Baldy Holly Band are an Internationally acclaimed high-energy rock n roll outfit, who have travelled the globe, entertaining fans and clients alike, with