Chichester's City Sounds music festival returns “bigger and better”

Taking place across eight venues in the city, the festival has already doubled in size and now offers a venue for under 18s.

Bands and artists wishing to take part are being encouraged to fill in an application form at: https://citysoundslive.com/application-form by September 30. The organisers are also planning to work with students from Chichester College and the University of Chichester who want to kick start their music career. People will be able to follow a musical map of the city and soak up the original sounds of musicians at a variety of venues from midday until 10pm. The under-18s stage will kick start the celebrations at Franco Manca at midday, focusing on emerging talent in an age group that rarely gets to be involved in festivals. Then from 5pm people will be able to listen to artists and bands in The Escapist, The Fountain, Trents, George and Dragon, Little Monster Tap, the Hole In The Wall and Havana.

Cllr Jess Brown-Fuller, cabinet member for culture and events at Chichester District Council, said: “We are really excited to welcome City Sounds back to Chichester this November. The first City Sounds Festival was a huge success with venues reporting a 300 per cent. increase in trade on the day; residents and visitors enjoying free entertainment; and local musicians having a stage to perform their own music on. As a council, we are really proud to be supporting the festival which we believe will continue to go from strength to strength and further enhance Chichester’s reputation as a creative and musical city.”

City Sounds was created by Chichester’s Chris Simmons, a professional musician for more than 20 years, and is being supported by Chichester District Council. People can find out more by visiting: https://citysoundslive.com/ .Chris has helped many new bands with their first shows, who have subsequently become festival headliners including Royal Blood, The Kooks, Ellie Goulding and many others. He has also written songs with artists, including Travis and Squeeze. As an artist he has toured the world, appearing with the likes of Jackson Browne, Sir Tom Jones, Simply Red, Passenger, James Bay, Paloma Faith and many others.

Chris Simmons, organiser of the event, said: “This year we are really pleased to be introducing an under 18s stage, which will focus on emerging talent in an age group that rarely gets to be involved in festivals. The aim is to develop a pathway for these artists to move on to the main festival and beyond. The first event was a huge success, with amazing comments from residents and visitors. This year is going to be bigger and better than ever, with double the amount of venues. We want to encourage local bands and artists to get involved by filling out the application form on our website.”

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