Bolton: Right to Roam festival celebrates biggest ever turnout

Right to Roam, which kicked off on Friday, drew a crowd of around 2,500 people as it celebrated three years of showcasing the best local talent, emerging acts and music legends.

Friday saw Lancashire post-punk heroes A Certain Ratio and Merseyside band the Ks performing, with Mark Radcliffe’s Une rounding off the event on Saturday night.

Mark Radcliffe's Une performing at the Octagon at Right to Roam 2023 (Image: free)

The festival has gone from strength-to-strength since it began three years ago, doubling the number of stages and attracting 10 times as many visitors.

Right to Roam organiser Ivan Crompton said this year’s festival has had a fantastic response from those who attended.

He said: “It was amazing [on Friday] a fantastic turnout on every single stage, everyone seems to have really, really enjoyed it.

“It was absolutely brilliant, all the volunteers and everyone who’s been here has been working their socks off.”

This year’s event saw the addition of the main stage on Victoria Square to its growing list of venues, joining others across the town centre including at Northern Monkey, The Octagon and Bar Four.

Ivan said: “We’ve got a massive main stage on Victoria Square which has been an interesting journey.

“We’ve had a more eclectic line-up, we’ve had a lot of hip-hop. Si Renz did an electro, techno with visual which was just amazing we’ve never done things like that.

“We’ve tried to make it a more multi-genre, multi-cultural festival.”

Seb Lowe performing at the main stage of Right to Roam 2023 (Image: Henry Lisowski)

As well as putting on star-quality entertainment for the town, Right to Roam also aims to nurture home-grown talent and ensure young people in the borough have a chance to access rehearsal spaces and industry experience.

This year’s event features several bands who have worked with the Rock It Project, run by Ivan with his wife Julie along with Matt and Joe Carr of Carrs Pasties and Paul Welsh of Bolton Gin Company who also owns Bar Four and The Loft in Horwich.

The project provides industry experience and mentorship for young people aged 11 to 18 years old who have a passion for music. Clouds and Errors, Pageant Mum and Fill the Blank have all been part of the project.

Ivan says the festival plays a big part in providing opportunities for up-and-coming musicians.

Clouds and Errors at Right to Roam 2023 (Image: Henry Lisowski)

The project provides industry experience and mentorship for young people aged 11 to 18 years old who have a passion for music. Clouds and Errors, Pageant Mum and Fill the Blank have all been part of the project.

Ivan says the festival plays a big part in providing opportunities for up-and-coming musicians.

The festival drew its biggest every crowd of 2,500 people this year (Image: Henry Lisowski)

He said: “When we set up Right to Roam, we wanted an all-inclusive space so young bands could perform, and they could perform along bands who have been doing it for many, many years.

“They get to play alongside them, they get to see how professional bands work and how their work ethic is."

The vast majority of the people who work to put on the not-for-profit event are volunteers, many of whom start preparations in the early hours.

Right to Roam, now in it's third year, aims to nurture homegrown and local talent (Image: Henry Lisowski)

Ivan said: “There’s a big, long list who we could thank, certainly the volunteers, certainly the people behind the scenes, certainly the sound and tech teams.

“We’ve always said it's about growing the scene, we’ve grown [the festival] each year, in the first year we had 250 people last year we had 700, this year we’re over 2,500, that's a massive growth.”