Press releases
Shropshire market town due to host 24-hour 'music marathon'
The local Amnesty International group has organised a 24-hour “Music Marathon” in the small market town of Bishop’s Castle in Shropshire.
The event - spread over two days on Friday 2 and Saturday 3 May - will see over 50 free music events taking place in the town, involving more than 150 musicians.
The Bishop’s Castle Amnesty Music Weekend will feature a samba band, Cajun music, jazz and big band music, Morris dancers, rock music, musicians from the Bishop’s Castle Orchestra, the Telford-based duo Flatlands And Garage Flowers, and numerous other musicians, performing both in the streets and in around a dozen local venues (for a full line-up, see jollypages.co.uk/bcamnesty).
The organiser of the event, Bishop’s Castle Amnesty member John Phillips, said:
“We thought we’d try to get the whole town buzzing with wall-to-wall music and events that would appeal to all - and so the idea of a 24-hour music marathon was born.“The response has been overwhelming. Venues were offered and musicians volunteered to play - all for free.“We knew Bishop’s Castle had a flourishing musical culture, but we were gratified to find that friends from all over have offered to help.”
The Bishop’s Castle Orchestra has a well-established record of supporting Amnesty through its biennial concerts, and in 2012 it raised approximately £400 for the human rights organisation’s work. This year advance contributions to the much-enlarged music marathon mean that more than that has already been raised, with more donations expected during the event itself.