Motown Legend Martha Reeves And The Vandellas To Headline Hale Barns Carnival 2020.

Festival Enters Its Fourth Year With Three Headline Concerts.

Three headline acts have been announced for Hale Barns Carnival 2020 – and due to high demand, a third evening concert has been added to the increasingly popular community festival.

Last year organisers’ were thrilled with a record number of visitors to the event, which raised more than £100,000 for the local community.

This year’s event takes place across the weekend of Friday 17th July, Saturday 18th July and Sunday 19th July 2020 and this year’s event boasts its biggest headliners yet, including Motown royalty.

Organisers are delighted to announce this year’s headline live acts performing at Hale Barns Carnival 2020 are Motown legend Martha Reeves And The Vandellas, opera vocalist Russell Watson, and Seventies pop rock band Bay City Rollers.

Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Inductee, Martha Reeves And The Vandellas are heading to Cheshire for an exclusive festival performance, they will entertain audiences with their vast Motown back catalogue on the Sunday evening (19th July), accompanied by a full band.

Martha, who was seen on Celebrity MasterChef on television screens in 2019, will be performing at Hale Barns on the weekend of her 79th Birthday. Fans can look forward to live performances of her smash hit songs including Nowhere To Run, Heat Wave, Jimmy Mack and the biggest selling Motown single of all time, Dancing In The Street, which was later covered in the 1980s by Mick Jagger and the late David Bowie.

A very special Proms With Russell Watson officially opens Hale Barns Carnival 2020 on the Friday evening (17th July).

Salford-born Russell Watson is the U.K.’s best-selling classical artist, and this year marks the 20th anniversary since his debut solo album The Voice hit the number one chart spot and catapulted the singer into the music industry spotlight.

Russell will be joined by his band performing a specially curated set full of proms classics, including massive anthems Jerusalem, Rule Britannia, and Nessun Dorma. The Friday night concert will be supporting local charity The Seashell Trust, with all profits from the evening being donated to the charity.

The following evening (Saturday 18th July), tartan pop rock sensations the Bay City Rollers will be shaking their Shang-a-Lang following an extensive tour of Japan and Canada.

The band will be flying back into the U.K. especially for the Saturday night concert. Fans of the tartan army are guaranteed a show-stopping evening as the band perform their back catalogue of greatest hits including Bye Bye Baby, Shang A Lang, Remember, and Summerlove Sensation.

Gates open at 6pm for the live concerts on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with the concerts starting at 7.30pm. 

All 100% of the ticket revenue from the evening concerts will be donated towards community projects and charities. One ongoing project supported by the event is to help fund a building project to create a new community hall in Hale Barns, which will provide a platform to showcase local talent and run adult learning and youth projects.

The live concerts are once again complemented by a two-day free Hale Barns Carnival family event on the Saturday and Sunday (18th and 19th July).

The daytime programme will feature more than 100 attractions including falconry displays, pop-up theatre, craft activity tent, traditional fun fair rides, supercars, makers’ market, food village and bars. Daytime entry is free from 12pm until 5pm.

Organiser Max Eden from Hale Barns Events commented, “Hale Barns Carnival is back bigger and better than ever before. Due to phenomenal demand and the incredible support of the local community, we are adding an extra date making the event three days for the first time ever.

We’re incredibly excited that the incredible queen of Motown Martha Reeves; operatic sensation and local lad Russell Watson; and Seventies tartan rockers the Bay City Rollers are joining us at the Hale Barns Carnival 2020. Each concert promises something completely different to enjoy and experience first-hand.

With a bigger concert stage and even bigger acts, we want to make this the best Hale Barns Carnival we’ve ever had and I still can’t believe we’ve got a real Motown legend coming to Hale Barns, it’s just wonderful. We’re also looking forward to once again inviting visitors to enjoy the daytime festival atmosphere free of charge. Come and join us for a weekend of live music and family fun – it’s the Summer event you won’t want to miss.”

Further announcements will be made in the coming weeks.