An island photographer has praised this year’s Castletown Music Festival after spending the weekend capturing performances and the atmosphere in Castletown Square.
John de Roeck, of Studio Manx, attended the festival as both a photographer and audience member, photographing the 11 acts performing across Saturday and Sunday.
He described it as a ‘very enjoyable and well-organised weekend’, with a ‘relaxed and family-friendly atmosphere’.
‘There was a good variety of bands and musical styles across the two days, as well as a good selection of food vendors, which added to the overall festival atmosphere.’
Despite rain on Sunday afternoon, John said the weather did not appear to dampen the mood, with the festival continuing to attract a good crowd.
‘Even the rain on Sunday afternoon didn't seem to dampen the enthusiasm of the crowd,’ he said.
The weekend culminated with a performance from local ska and two-tone band Buncha Skankers on Sunday evening.
John said the finale was a particular highlight, with the audience dancing and singing along as the atmosphere became increasingly lively.
‘Buncha Skankers went down particularly well with the audience and played a couple of additional songs at the end, as the crowd clearly wasn't ready for the evening to finish,’ he said.
He described the band as a ‘great choice’ to close the festival, adding that their energetic style was ‘ideally suited to getting an audience dancing’.
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John said he also heard some attendees asking why the entertainment could not continue until 11pm.
‘I think that was more a reflection of how much people were enjoying themselves than dissatisfaction with the event finishing when it did,’ he said.
For John, the combination of free live music, food vendors and different musical styles helped make the event feel like more than a series of concerts.
He said: ‘The event felt like a genuine town-centre summer festival.’
