New music festival comes to Gosport

That is the message from the organisers behind a new three-day musical festival being held in September.

Hapi Festival will take place at Walpole Park, in the town centre, and will have a range of live acts as well as family-friendly entertainment.

Headline acts include 1960s band Mike Pender’s Searchers, Animals and Friends and From The Jam.

The idea first came to organiser Jeremy Gaskin last October and is named after nutritional firm Hapi which is sponsoring the festival.

Richard Harper, who has been promoting and marketing the festival, said they were excited to be holding it.

‘After looking at previous festivals on offer in Gosport we felt like we could do something different and do it right,’ he said.

‘We wanted to do an event with lots of activities for children and entertainment for the whole family to enjoy.

‘We have got some nostalgic bands as well as some local ones and we hope people will enjoy the music. The tribute bands we have aren’t small ones, they are big touring bands.

‘Hapi Festival is all about putting something on for the people of Gosport, celebrating what’s good about the town and getting residents, colleges and businesses involved.’

As part of the festival, St Vincent College students will be performing and creating posters.

A number of businesses have also got involved with sponsorship like brewery Fallen Acorn which will be organising the real ale tent.

Richard added: ‘We wanted to give something back to the community. When you look at the calendar for Gosport there isn’t a festival like ours on it.

‘We have got the bands ready and the licence with the council, we have the green light and are ready to go.’

Tickets for Hapi Festival, which is on from September 8 and September 10 will be available to buy soon. For updates visit facebook.com/TheHapiFestival.