A new free event promising to bring “everyone together through music, culture and community spirit” this summer will be anchored by homegrown acts with deep ties to the Luton, as organisers prepare for the inaugural New Town Community Festival.
Set for Saturday 6 June on New Town Street and New Town Park, the festival is being spearheaded by the Sugar Loaf pub and will feature live music, Irish dancing, choir performances, food stalls and family entertainment from midday.
“We are SO excited to finally reveal the first official line up for this year’s New Town Community Festival,” the pub posted on its Facebook page, adding: “This is a FREE community event bringing everyone together through music, culture and community spirit.”
At the top of the bill to the newest addition to Luton’s cultural calendar are Missing The Ferry and Olivia Lynn, both of whom have built reputations beyond the town while keeping strong creative links to Luton.
Missing The Ferry are an Irish-influenced collective known for their pub-ready, crowd-driven sound rooted in identity, migration and working-class life.
The band have previously spoken about writing music to reflect pride in the town, including their track ‘Luton You’re a Lady’, a love letter to the area that was created to push back against negative perceptions of Luton and instead highlight its pubs, culture and diversity.
The group’s live reputation has grown through grassroots venues and festival appearances, with a style built around communal singing and high-energy performances shaped by their second-generation Irish background.
Olivia Lynn, meanwhile, is a country-pop singer-songwriter from Luton who has already made an early mark in the UK country scene. She first broke through as a teenager with chart success on the iTunes Country Chart and has since developed into a live performer with festival appearances and a sold out headline show at The Castle. That was a warm-up to showcasing her talent at the Country to Country (C2C) festival at London’s O2 Arena on Saturday, one of the biggest events in the global country music calendar, after she was chosen by BBC Radio 2 and BBC Introducing to perform there.
Her music blends country influences with pop sensibilities, inspired in part by classic country storytelling traditions, and she has spoken previously about wanting to put Luton on the map through her work while building a career that can extend beyond the town’s boundaries.
Alongside the headliners, the festival will showcase a wide range of local talent including Daniel Maguire, Ryan Prazer, Hayley Jane, Deadwood, NTCG Choir, Hillborough School Choir, Brooks Academy, Young At Heart Choir with Joe Corrigan and the Herlihy Burgoine School of Irish Dancing.
The stage will be hosted by DJ Kenneth Egan and Dean Tyler, who will guide the day’s schedule of performances.
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