The Ottery St Mary Food & Families Festival is delighted to announce the date of Saturday 9 September for the 2023 Festival, which will be held at Otter Nurseries.

They are planning something a little different for the entertainment this year, with more of a focus on involving performances from the wider community. Teaming up with a wide range of schools, festivals and music industry players, a regional "Battle of the Bands" for musicians aged 11 to 25 is taking place, with heats to e held at four locations in June and July.

A range of performance opportunities at Ottery Food Festival, to support headliners the Kabins, and many other Festvials are available as prizes. Additional prizes include support slots with prominent local bands, recording and releasing songs, appearances on radio shows, free music school places, rehearsal time, guitar starter packs, free vinyl, band merch and festival work experience.

The organisers are keen to reward all those that take part, to encourage them to continue to participate in performing. Consequently, there will be prizes for all entrants.

The competition is open to any bands or musicians 11-25 years old, in any genre from any school or college in the South West or that are already practicing independently. Depending on applications, there may be different age and genre-related heats, in order to ensure fairness. The organisers are especially looking to encourage girls playing instruments at school to form bands.

First heats take place in June and there will be a final heat to find the winners at the King of Clubs, Ottery St Mary in July. 

First Heats;

·       Tuesday 13th June - King's School, Ottery St Mary. 

·       Thursday 15th June - The Rock Project, Exeter.

·       Friday 16th June - Tazma Studios, Exeter. 

·       Saturday 17th June - King of Clubs, Ottery St Mary.

Final Heats: Saturday 1st July - King of Clubs, Ottery St Mary.  

"We have designed our Battle of the Bands to encourage more young people to participate in the performing arts. Everyone who gets involved will be given a prize as we are hoping to give young people a platform to perform in a supportive and encouraging environment," says David Knox, Entertainment Officer at Ottery Food Festival, Promoter at the King of Clubs & Producer with RandK Systems.

"This model worked so well for this year's Ottery Food Festival headliners The Kabins. At the King of Clubs, we provided them rehearsal space and equipment, coached them, provided their first gigs and promoted them in the media. This led to them getting signed and embarking on a national tour, which set them on a positive path to develop as a viable live band. So, we are hoping to give other young people interested in getting into performing a platform to do so at the region's best festivals." continues David.

In addition to the Battle of the Bands element, there are also opportunities for students interested in gaining work experience at a range of music festivals. These include helping with live sound, live recording, producing promotional videos, helping with stage management, social media and PR.

"We hope this will give students and young people interested in the entertainment industry a chance to see for themselves how a festival works and use the experience of being involved as great work experience, or as part of their course work," added David. 

How to Apply - Send Your Videos By 31st May 

Anyone interested in performing in the Battle of the Bands should visit the RandK Systems Website to find the online application form. They should then send a download link for a video of them performing to register interest, in the first instance. Organisers are asking for applicants to provide their age, so they can set up different heats in order to ensure fairness. Any additional Schools or Colleges that would like to run a first heat at their facility in June should get in touch to discuss getting involved. 

Applications by 31st May to; www.randksystems.co.uk

1.    Organisations Participating and Providing Prizes

Schools and Colleges;

The Kings School Ottery, Richard Huish College, Honiton Community College, The Rock Project.

Venues, Promoters and Festivals; 

The King of Clubs in Ottery St Mary, Exeter Street Arts Festival, Sidmouth Folk Festival, Exmouth Festival, The Marine Sidmouth, The Beehive Arts Centre Honiton, Villages in Action, The Music in Devon Initiative (MIDI) and booking agency Midnight Mango.

Radio Stations, Production Companies, Rehearsal Studios and Music Shops;

Phonic FM, True FM, RandK Systems, Tazma Rehearsal Studios and Project Music.

Bands Offering Support Slots;

The Kabins, Barefoot Bandit, Mad Dog McCrea.

2.    Prizes Available

Festival Performances;

·       Exmouth Festival 28th-30th July. 

·       Sidmouth Folk Festival 4th-11th August.

·       Exeter Street Arts Festival August 26th. 

·       Ottery St Mary Food & Families Festival September 9th. 

·       "Curtain Raisers" at Village in Action events.

·       Performance slots at the Marine, Sidmouth during Folk Week.

Busking and Acoustic Slots at Ottery Food Festival  

There are also prizes including busking slots at the Ottery Food Festival as well as solo and acoustic performance slots during the day.

Record and Release Your Music

Other prizes include a song being recorded, mixed, mastered and released on Streaming platforms by music producers RandK Systems. 

Take Over Radio Shows & Get Your Music Heard  

The songs recorded will also be given airtime on two radio stations;

·       True Radio UK (national radio station) - the song recorded will be played and the songwriters will be interviewed.  

·       Exeter's Phonic FM are also offering takeover shows, with a prize to co-host a radio show with radio DJ Jason Maddocks. This will give the songwriters a chance to talk about their music and the music that has inspired them.  

Free Rehearsal Time at Tazma Studios

Free rehearsal time is on offer at Tazma Studios, Exeter's finest fully equipped rehearsal studio.

Discounted Starter Packs from Project Music

Exeter's leading guitar shop, Project Music, is offering discounted starter kits for novice guitarists.

3 Free Rock Project Taster Sessions 

The Rock Project is the UK & Ireland's premier school for children's contemporary music tuition. 3 free Rock Project sessions are on offer, where winners can come along and have a lesson and jam with other musicians. A Music Masterclass is also on offer, with some truly amazing musicians available to help improve students' drumming, guitar skills and more.   

Support Mad Dog Mcrea, Barefoot Bandit and The Kabins

·       Courtesy of live booking agents Midnight Mango, an opening slot on the Studio Stage for the Mad Dog Mcrea Weekender 2024 at Exeter Phoenix is on offer.

·      A support slot with the Barefoot Bandit on December 16th is up for grabs at the Honiton Beehive.

·       Also available is a support slot with up and coming Ottery St Mary indie rock band the Kabins, who are headlining Ottery Food & Families Festival this year. The Kabins will be acting as judges, in the hope that they can bring other young bands up behind them. They started out at the King of Clubs last April and since have gone from strength to strength, recently completing a national tour and signing with management.

·       Free Copies of "Lockdown Songs" Vinyl EPs

International booking agency Midnight Mango is also offering free copies of "Lockdown Songs", a highly collectable vinyl album. This features the cream of the live acts they represent; The Dead South, Neville Staple (from The Specials), Mad Dog Mcrea, Kathryn Roberts & Sean Lakeman, Amy Montgomery, Tankus The Henge, Hands Off Gretel, Molotov Jukebox and CoCo & The Butterfields.