Music festival will raise money to fight poverty

Chiswick will play host to an eclectic mix of music as bands and artists take over six popular local venues on Saturday October 22nd for the first time in a music festival called ‘Oxjam Chiswick’, run by a group of volunteers to raise funds for Oxfam.

The beauty of Oxjam Chiswick’s line up lies in its diversity. From rock to folk; indiepop to rockabilly; and acoustic to hip hop, a whole spectrum of musical genres are represented and with a ticket giving access to the entire mini-festival, music fans are sure to get their fill.



Oxjam is a month-long festival throughout October which runs hundreds of events throughout the UK using volunteers and music-lovers to organise gigs for charity. Since the first festival in 2006, Oxjam has raised over £ 1.5 million for the charity Oxfam.

Their slogan is - Make Music-Raise Money-Change Lives.

In the run-up to that event, four of London's hottest acts will perform next Saturday, October 15th at the Metropolis Studios in Chiswick . The gig, known as the ' electric eel afternoon,' will take place at the Power House, 70, Chiswick High Road, with tickets priced at £5. The organisers want to raise £ 300 from the gig which will run from 1- 5 p.m.

On October 22nd acts include the nationally renowned vocalists Charlotte Kelly, who has sung with the legendary Soul2Soul, and Sophie Barker - a singer best known for her work with Groove Armada and the British downtempo group Zero 7. She is a co-writer of the latter band’s biggest hit, ‘Destiny’, and sings the song alongside fellow vocalist Sia Furler. Barker also co-wrote and provided vocals for songs on the Zero 7 album ‘Simple Things’, which has sold more than one million copies worldwide, and she is currently touring and promoting her new double A-side single ‘A Forest/Say Goodbye’. Anoushka Lucas, who has been so popular at earlier Oxjam Chiswick events; family guys ‘The FastLane Roogalators’; and Irish band ‘The Geri-Patricks’, whose song sheets guarantee a sing-along, will also be amongst the sixty performers.

The action will be spread across six Chiswick venues: The Gunnersbury, The Old Packhorse, The Barley Mow and The George IV are representing Chiswick’s pubs with the latter being the under-18s venue. They are joined by the exclusive High Road House and our world music venue, the Hogarth Health Club . Moving music fans between venues will be the Hayes FM double decker bus which will be showcasing acoustic acts en-route.

An Oxjam Chiswick beer has been brewed specially by the team at the Botanist in Kew. This will be available at the Barley Mow, The Crown and Anchor and the Botanist in the run up to the 22 nd, with a percentage of each sale price being donated to Oxfam. Oxjam Chiswick have held a number of successful warm up events over the summer, and The Vintage and Vinyl night; formal Sunday Supper; and Zumbathon, alongside the beer sales, have helped Oxjam Chiswick begin to raise what they will hope be £20,000 for Oxfam.

At the same time Oxfam Bookshop on Turnham Green Terrace are running a Value Vinyl event from 19th-23rd October. Prices will start at 33p.

Oxjam is Oxfam’s national music festival which, between the various venues across the UK, is now the biggest music festival in the UK. All money raised goes to help the charity which focuses on three main objectives: emergency response, campaigning for change, and development work worldwide. This is the first Oxjam to be held in Chiswick and the group of local volunteers running the show hope it could become an annual event.

The tickets are limited for this mini-festival and are on sale from WeGotTickets.com (http://www.wegottickets.com/f/2880), High Road House and the Oxjam Boutique on Chiswick High Road with an early bird price of £10 until 15 th October, or for £12 thereafter and on the day in limited numbers at selected venues.

For more information head to www.oxjamchiswick.co.uk where the event schedule for the day can be viewed. Find us on Facebook: OxjamChiswick or Twitter: OxJamChiswick and sign up to keep up to date with new announcements and events.

Note - All sets are 30 minutes with a 20 minute changeover with the following exceptions

Since the first Oxjam in 2006, there have been 3,000 individual events throughout the UK , attended by three-quarters of a million people.

The organisers say that a donation of £6 can buy 100 school dinners for children in a developing country, and £ 100 buys medicine for an entire village for six months.

October 18, 2011