Motown royalty Martha Reeves And The Vandellas and opera superstar Russell Watson will join 1970s hearthrobs The Bay City Rollers on the incredible bill for this year’s Hale Barns Carnival.
Martha, who will be performing on the weekend of her 79th birthday, will be delivering performances of her smash hit singles including Nowhere To Run, Heat Wave, Jimmy Mack – and the biggest selling Motown single of all time, Dancing In The Street, later covered by Mick Jagger and David Bowie.
The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Inductee will be accompanied by a full band as they headline the event on the evening of Sunday 19th July.
Salford-born Russell Watson, the UK’s best-selling classical artist, will be marking 20 years since his debut solo album The Voice hit number one.
Appearing in a special Friday night concert and joined by his band, Watson will be performing a specially curated set of Proms classics, including Jerusalem, Rule Britannia and Nessun Dorma. The Friday night concert will be supporting local charity The Seashell Trust, with all profits from the evening being donated to the charity.
And as previously announced, tartan pop rock sensations the Bay City Rollers will be flying into the UK from a tour of Canada and Japan especially for the Saturday night concert, with fans guaranteed greatest hits including Bye Bye Baby, Shang A Lang, Remember and Summerlove Sensation.
Last year’s event enjoyed a record number of visitors and raised more than £100,000 for the local community.
Gates open at 6pm for the live concerts on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with the concerts starting at 7.30pm.
Tickets for the evening concerts go on sale at 11am on Friday 24 January 2020.
All 100% of the ticket revenue from the evening concerts will be donated towards community projects and charities. One ongoing project supported by the event is to help fund a building project to create a new community hall in Hale Barns, which will provide a platform to showcase local talent and run adult learning and youth projects.
The live concerts are once again complemented by a two-day free Hale Barns Carnival family event on the Saturday and Sunday.
The daytime programme will feature more than 100 attractions including falconry displays, pop-up theatre, craft activity tent, traditional fun fair rides, supercars, makers’ market, food village and bars. Daytime entry is free from 12pm until 5pm.
Organiser Max Eden from Hale Barns Events commented: “Hale Barns Carnival is back bigger and better than ever before. Due to phenomenal demand and the incredible support of the local community, we are adding an extra date making the event three days for the first time ever.
“We’re incredibly excited that the incredible queen of Motown Martha Reeves; operatic sensation and local lad Russell Watson; and Seventies tartan rockers the Bay City Rollers are joining us at the Hale Barns Carnival 2020. Each concert promises something completely different to enjoy and experience first-hand.”
“With a bigger concert stage and even bigger acts, we want to make this the best Hale Barns Carnival we’ve ever had – and I still can’t believe we’ve got a real Motown legend coming to Hale Barns, it’s just wonderful.”
Previous headline acts at the annual event have included Odyssey, Martin Kemp and Nathan Moore.
