On reflection by Sue Gentry Done [PPP] Agiotfest 2014 is over or is it? It may not be Glastonbury but so what! Well another year is over and already thoughts are with Agiotfest 2015 –will there be one, who will play? Watch this space is all I can say at this juncture. WOW –another great Agiotfest with the largest crowd to date. Thanks to everyone who helped make this year such a success –there are so many people who contribute in so many different ways –too many to mention so one b i g T H A N K Y O U , ΕΥΦΑΡΙΣΤΟΥΜΕ to everyone –our sponsors, the performers, the workers, and of course the audience.How was Agiotfest 2014 for me? Honestly busy is the word that first comes to mind but secondly enjoyable,fun,great music, big crowd, lots of familiar faces and many new ones too. Why busy? Well I was joint compere(with Richard Wilson & some Greek translation by Fonda Grammenos), charity wristband lady, t-shirt person,general dogsbody person. Plus trying to be a person in the crowd too. So firstly to the compere bit –I know it has been mentioned that I had notes –well several reasons for that –I didnt know for sure what I would need to say until the day before and those notes were typed up on Friday ready for use on Saturday. I am a very busy person with my fingers in many pies –I help with Agiotfest out of the goodness of my heart –so if anyone has an issue with me not learning my script then my answer to you –come and do it yourself and put all the hours into the festival that I have this year!! Rant over –well maybe. Enough of all that I loved being compere but would prefer to be a face in the crowd and have the time to really enjoy the festival, savour every moment and dance the night away.My duties semi-finished before the Fallout so I was at least able to relax and dance to this great young rock band from Manchester. The festival for me like for others has been going on for months with meetings with Paul to discuss the finer details and prepare job lists running up to the event. Pauls job lists are massive and he can keep them –all I can say is I dont know how he manages to do everything he does –he is amazing and doesnt like anyone to say so.The Agiotfest flows despite the enormity of what has to be done –of course Paul is backed by the wonderful Lula who keeps the cogs turning and is the support you dont see and without her it simply would not happen. Who played Agiotfest 2014?This year saw mainly local artists perform, there really is so much talent on this beautiful island. Sadly Perfect Strangers were unable to perform due to a death in one of the artists families. However the show went on and we hope to see them play at a future festival.The show was opened by a talented young violinist called Artemis preceeded by a song from her mother.Not only is Artemis a musician she is also an up-and- coming artist and we were lucky enough to have some of her work on display for people to view.Our 2nd surprise guest of the evening was Maria Voulgari,a talented local singer and guitarist, who stormed onto stage with her powerful voice.A brave and confident singer/songwriter, Maria is putting together her own band. Be sure to watch out for her in the weeks to come, here on our musical island of Corfu. Maria had joined The Fallout at the un-plugged event at Ma Cocotte. Next 3 and The Cuckoo took to the stage,they are a very popular, well-established local Corfiot band.They played to the crowd and gave a strong performance all round.This gifted band played for us under the rising of the Corfu moon. Our 3rd surprise guests of the evening were Nicola and Dan from the very popular 4Square who played at Agiotfest 2010 & 2011 with their folk band from Manchester.It was wonderful to have them back to perform a few songs for us. They played with t h e i r usual panache and professionalism.They were followed by The Mojo Bunch Blues Band –lead singer Peter Papageorgiou had said to me to say that they were not professionals in my introduction of the band –but I decided not to and am I glad I didnt –they gave a tight performance with variety and they are definitely a band to watch out for in Corfu.They have since played a set at Sallys Bar in Ipsos as part of the 100+ club draw event and they were brilliant.An interlude where the raffle with17 great prizes was presented by Lucy Steele ably assisted by Nicola and Dan from 4 Square. The climax of the festival was an outstanding performance by the young rock band The Fallout from Manchester.In the crowd I heard the comment that they are the best rock band I have ever seen perform live in Greece.The 4 lads –Josh, John, Alex & Nic are very talented musicians and the set they played included many of their own songs. People were also pleased to hear some cover versions and the dance-floor saw plenty of action with people of all ages dancing the night away.The Fallout also played an unplugged set on the Thursday night before, part of Agiotfest week at Ma Cocotte in Kanoni and we saw the raw talent of these young musicians. It was a pleasure to meet them, true gents with talent to match. All the performers were great and there was something for everyone. It was super to see such a wide age range in the audience,with families and friends enjoying the festival together. What does Glastonbury have that Agiotfest does not ? More toilets –many different varieties too, if you would like more information please feel free to ask! Mud mud glorious mud –you definitely need your wellies for Glastonbury –we were lucky to miss the rain by 2 days at this years Agiotfest –phew!! My purple wellies were ready and waiting should they have been needed –instead I sported a pair of vegan pink check DM style boots –well I needed something comfortable for all that running around with my many different hats! More stages & more bands, lots more walking too. Lots of food stalls & things to buy –we hope more people will bring a stall next year to Agiotfest. But –lets remember that Glastonbury costs nearly 14 times as much to attend plus all the travel costs to get to the event too. So basically Agiotfest is a bargain by all accounts.Did you know that Glastonbury 2015 tickets are on sale and will be sold out in an hour with no bands having been announced. All I can say is Have the Faith –Agiotfest 2015 will be worth the ticket money which we will not ask you to part with until the line up is announced.Please join our facebook page to keep up to date with any events happening as part of the Agiotfest roadshow –truthfully it never stops –it is either being planned or happening and there are lots of smaller events in between.Fingers crossed for Agiotfest 2015 –the decision wont be made until the decision is made –we need willing volunteers to help with the enormity of the task of organising and promoting the festival.Please contact either Paul or myself if you would like to be a part of the Agiotfest team and once again thanks to all those that already are. Another year bites the dust (thankfully not mud!) -let the Agiotfest 15 begin.
Posted on: Sun, 19 Oct 2014 06:08:52 +0000
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