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Artburst festival will be bigger and better!

Jun 10 2009 by Shona Mitchell, East Kilbride News

EAST KILBRIDE’S biggest and best outdoor festival makes a welcome return to the Village this month.

Artburst is set for its best year yet — with loads of entertainment crammed into two fun-packed days.

The opening parade will leave East Kilbride Thistle grounds in Maxwell Drive in the Village at 6.30pm on Friday, June 19.

This is when the real action kicks off as a whole host of acts will get Artburst 2009 off to a flying start.

Over two nights, the people of the town are in for a real treat from acts such as Girls B Loud, Journey South, Racey, The Rubettes, Fake That, Horse and headliners D:Ream.

The event launches with an exciting circus pageant including a procession of jugglers, stilt walkers and clowns accompanied by theatre and dance groups from the local community.

The pageant will proceed along East Kilbride Village Main Street to the main stage in Hunter Street at 7pm for the launch of the event, brought to you by South Lanarkshire Council and East Kilbride Arts Council. Best of all, the whole event is free.

Alan Dick, chair of East Kilbride Arts Council, said he hopes local families will support the event.

He said: “We are expecting Artburst to be even bigger than it has been in the past and also be a great success. We have been busy building on what we have done before to make it even better.

“The entertainment is suitable for all age groups so I’d like to see more families come along to enjoy the event.”

The festival will be held in East Kilbride Village, with the main stage at the top of Hunter Street, with something for everyone from Friday, June 19, from 6.30pm until 11.30pm and Saturday from 1.30pm until 11.30pm.

The top acts performing at Artburst include:

Girls B Loud - Five experienced and talented singers, bring the whole experience of Girls Aloud to our Artburst Festival.

Journey South - After entering X-Factor crowds in 2005, Journey South made it straight through to the final. After narrowly missing out on winning the show, Journey South were immediately snapped by Simon Cowell and signed to BMG. Andy and Carl went on to release their platinum-selling self-titled debut album which entered the UK charts at number one.

Racey - Racey came to fame in 1978 when they reached number three in the charts with their first single "Lay your Love on Me". They followed with their second hit in 1979 "Some Girls" which got to number two. In the same year "Boy Oh Boy" stormed up the charts. Altogether Racey spent 44 weeks in the singles charts.

The Rubettes - The Rubettes gained worldwide success with their very first single "Sugar Baby Love". The record shot to number one in the UK charts and stayed at the top for five weeks, selling around 10 million copies and going on to become one of the classic pop records of all time.

Day two of the Festival kicks off on Saturday at 3pm with something for all the family – local community theatre, dance, music groups and street entertainers will entertain you all for the afternoon. And you can also take part in a whole range of fun activities throughout the day.

At 5:45 the evening begins with:

The Laura Healy Band - They have played at Celtic Connections Danny Kyle Stage, Retrofest at Strathclyde Park and with Jill Jackson at Oran Mor.

Stretch Dawson and the Mending Hearts Band - The Mending Hearts is the world's only Scottish western swing band. Western swing – the long-lost precursor to rock and roll – mixes elements of swing jazz, country blues, mariachi and ragtime and the Mending Hearts give it a Scottish twist as well.

Fake That - See and hear all the greatest hits of the most successful boy band ever. During their set, the band also feature tracks from Robbie Williams such as his famous anthems "Angels”, “Let Me Entertain You" and "Rock DJ".

Horse with full band - This show encompasses Horse’s brilliant new songs and glorious back catalogue.

Fangs - Drawing influence from NY's 70s new wave scene and London 80s clubs, Fangs aim is to create fun and glamour on the dance floor with their bang-up-to-date rock ‘n’ roll.

And, to finish both the evening and the festival off for this year will be D:Ream - The full original line-up will be here including the fabulous Peter Cunnah. The band had nine top 40 hits including the legendary number one single “Things Can Only Get Better”.