Fans of music and arts festival Strawberry Fair will be able to participate in the event after all, thanks to Cambridge 105 Radio.
The local radio station is to broadcast a 12-hour show on Saturday June 6th that will reflect the music, poetry and drama of the Midsummer Common event alongside additional material for children.
This year’s Strawberry Fair was cancelled due to the current concern around Coronavirus. The event was first staged in 1974 and the programme will cover its rich history.
The virtual Strawberry Fair has received funding from the government-backed Audio Content Fund, a pilot scheme that supports public service content on commercial and community radio networks.
It is being produced by Trevor Dann, Executive Producer at Folder & Co.
In addition to Cambridge 105 Radio, parts of the coverage will be heard on neighbouring stations Star Radio, HCR104fm and Future Radio.
Julian Clover, Editorial Lead, Cambridge 105 Radio said: “Strawberry Fair is one of the highlights of the year for Cambridge and is one of our most popular outside broadcasts. While we won’t be able to make it to Midsummer Common we hope that our Virtual Strawberry Fair is able to give a taste of summer to Cambridge 105 Radio listeners.
Trevor Dann, Executive Producer, Folder & Co, said: “This grant gives us a great opportunity to keep alive the spirit of Strawberry Fair, iconic arts and performance festival which attracts up to 50,000 people a year from around East Anglia. We’re pleased to be working with a range of commercial and community stations to bring this to as many people in the area as possible.”
Annie Bounce, Vice Chair, Strawberry Fair said: “Out of the disappointment of cancelling this year’s fair came this brilliant idea where we can bring the music to the people of Cambridge in another way. We are so grateful to Trevor and Cambridge 105 Radio for helping to make this happen and we’re so looking forward to producing the first ever online Strawberry Fair!”