The event is scheduled to start at 2:00 PM and features seven different acts performing live on an outdoor stage. It has been 57 years since the original four-day Woodstock Music and Art Fair in August 1969 attracted an audience of almost 500,000 at a dairy farm in Bethel, New York. While Magdalens landlord and music lover Gary Jenner was too young to remember the historic American event, what he subsequently discovered about it left a lasting impression on him.
Gary Jenner told Tim Flanagan of the Rejoicing in Ripon Blog:
That’s why we chose the name Magstock for our festival. It’s a world apart from the size and scale of Woodstock, but we will have a stage for performers and professional sound system, alongside the outside bar and catering provided by Suckling Pig, Fork on the Road and with Tilly’s Tumbles providing sweets for children.
Hayley Jenner, who, like her husband Gary, enjoys many types of popular music from different decades, said:
This is the first time, since we took over the Mags in November, that we are using the garden for a musical event and we have booked a mixture of artists from Ripon and further afield, who between them will be singing songs for all tastes and ages.
The first festival performers on the schedule will be the acoustic duo of Ken Harper and Billy Miller, known as The Monktoneers from Bishop Monkton.
Ken Harper said:
We are looking forward to being the opening act and will have a large playlist of popular songs to select from.
The festival lineup will allocate a specific one-hour time slot to each performer. The other acts scheduled to take the stage throughout the day are:
- Just Odd
- Freddie Cleary
- Rough Cut UK
- Desperado
- Captain and the Bear
- Broken Empire
The business community has also voiced its support for the outdoor expansion of the venue.
Ripon Business Improvement District (BID) manager Lilla Bathurst said:
Gary, Hayley and their family have, over the past nine months, done a great job in attracting new customers and welcoming back regulars who enjoy the pub’s community-minded focus.
Magstock is their biggest venture so far at the Magdalens and I hope that it is a tremendous success.
