It was a lovely warm and balmy evening on Sunday and I was invited along to the Hale Barns Carnival which is now in its third year. Hale Barns Carnival was set up in 2017 by key organiser Max Eden, an energetic and communicative young man, who although just in his 20s is already creating a big impact in the local area. Eden had a big focus on providing an annual event that would bring the local community together and is not new to organising events, having already established a Christmas Market in Hale, Greater Manchester. Eden, along with a big team of friendly and enthusiastic volunteers (I had a long and informative chat with volunteer Paul Keeling - a top dog in the event organisation) have created this much looked-forward-to summer carnival. I eagerly headed over as although practically on my doorstep I had not attended the previous two events so was keen to see what was in store.
The Hale Barns Carnival which runs for two days, the Saturday and Sunday, has two parts to each day, it is free entry in the daytime from 12-5pm and then follows the evening concerts which are all ticketed. All profits going to charity, Keeling spoke to me about the charity which has now raised £700 000 of a £750 000 target and the money is going towards the building of a new Hale Barns community hall. It was explained that when this target is reached there will be a new community project on the cards and the team are already in talks for Hale Barns Carnival 2020!
In August 2018, Max and his team were nominated for a Leisure And Tourism award at the Altrincham Business Awards and the event was highly commended by Trafford's Mayor. Now in 2019, with the help from continued sponsorship from Benchmark Security and support from B&M Bargains, Eden has managed to book the events biggest headliners to date with Spandau Ballet's Martin Kemp, The Real Thing, Owen Paul, Brother Beyond and the return of Odyssey to Hale Barns.
As I went along on the Sunday, the ticketed acts that evening were support act Rio Gold and who are a Tribute Band to Duran Duran and Spandau Ballet. Owen Paul, who sadly had an accident on stage the previous night at another gig and being injured, was unable to attend. Dennis from Musical Youth took over his reins last minute. Nathan Moore from Brother Beyond and later Worlds Apart. Finally and acting as headliner was Martin Kemp in his ‘Back To The 80’s’ DJ set. Formally of Spandau Ballet, Kemp was going to take to the decks spinning many favourite hits from the 80s. As somewhat of an 80s music fan I was looking forward to seeing some artists I’d not seen live but enjoyed some of their pop-styled music.
I thought I would come and go so headed over during the day to get a feel for the carnival and I have to say there was an abundance of stalls and activities on offer. New attractions such as the big Pop Up Theatre shows by High Jinx, a new arena for featuring aerial birds of prey displays and the fabulous makers' market with over 70 amazing local stall holders. There was also a bright and colourful funfair, shire horses, and a very tasty looking foodie village with all manner of foods to tempt the tastebuds. I had a good walk around and I could definitely sense the atmosphere bubbling away ready for the evenings acts. The stewards and volunteers were extremely helpful and no question was too much. I managed to see a little of Scarlett Quigley (Voice UK) and she sang beautifully and warmly interacted with audience members after she had finished on stage. I decided to have a little break and came back for the musical feast in the early evening. I headed back over to Hale Barns in time to see Rio Gold and the hand over from day to ticketed evening was done very smoothly and Rio Gold were fun and entertaining and certainly did as was expected and warmed the enthusiastic crowd up. I’d say this was very much an intimate gig with plenty of space to sit on picnic blankets and chairs and there were families sitting together enjoying the warm evening. Next on stage was Owen Paul’s (Get well soon Owen Paul!) last minute replacement Dennis from Musical Youth, Dennis was a charming personality up there with a warmth that the crowd could really connect with and singing some classic songs made many people step into their nostalgic shoes and got the party well and truly started.
The penultimate artist to grace the stage was Nathan Moore from Brother Beyond who get everyone up on their feet and with some superb audience involvement. You could tell Moore enjoys what he does, it would bore him (and quite possibly the audience) to just stand up there, sing a few songs and go home. No, I sensed a real fun personality, he came down off the stage mingled with the audience and was a joy to watch. He also turned out to be a joy to meet afterwards as I was lucky enough to get time for a quick hello (and picture of course!)
Our final act of the evening was Martin Kemp, from the Spandau Ballet days and with his DJ set. The silver fox looked very hip and trendy in his black tee, white jeans and trainers and the audience were all eagerly awaiting his appearance on stage. Well he smashed it and mixed it like a pro, singing some great popular 80s tunes, and with some fantastic and colourful lighting on stage made for a brilliant headliner. The audience were loving it and him and he certainly worked it up there! All too soon it was time for me to leave and I left the entertaining Kemp singing and dancing away with the audience and knew that everyone was thoroughly enjoying themselves. I also left with my signed Spandau Ballet debut album as having had a brief interaction with Kemp, he kindly left his autograph on my record! Can’t say better than that.
As for Hale Barns Carnival 2020 I’m sure this will be an even bigger event yet and I shall certainly be heading over again for some more fun and musical entertaining!
Reviewer - Mary Fogg
on - 21/7/19
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