Thousands turn out to watch Dire Straits guitarist John Illsley perform at Milford music festival

THOUSANDS of people filled the village green and nearby streets to catch a glimpse of Dire Straits guitarist John Illsley as he headlined Milford’s popular music festival.

The musical legend played a medley of hits from the band’s back catalogue including Walk of Life, Money for Nothing and Sultans of Swing on Sunday.

He also performed songs from his latest album, VIII.

Festival spokesperson Fiona McDuff said: “We were utterly and completely ecstatic with how the festival went – it was even better than we every imagined it could be.

“The feedback from the village was absolutely incredible – our goal was to bring back the festival as an event that would bring the whole community together and we definitely fulfilled that.”

The three day festival kicked off on Friday afternoon with sets from Picture House, Roxanne Phillips and the Bob Rees Band.

Live music continued into the evening with The Danny Salamandar Band, Murphy’s Lore and Glorias.

Heavy rain throughout the day on Saturday did not deter hundreds of people from turning out to enjoy the eclectic line-up which featured an array of celebrated local acts including Clockwork Carousel, The Manatees, Late Again Six and Sax and the Southern Companion.

New for this year’s festival were dedicated toilets as well as a bigger and better stage.

Organisers also scheduled all acts on the main stage and limited the number of food stalls and traders in a bid to create a larger capacity on the green.

Sunday’s brighter weather coupled with John Illsley’s appearance drew the biggest crowd of the weekend, with several thousand music fans filling the village green and nearby streets.

Completing the evening programme was The Emma Hardy Band, Skamageddon and Lady Winwoods Maggot.

The free to attend event was funded by programme sales, sponsorship from local businesses and bar sales.

Organisers worked with several local charities and groups including Litter Pickers of the New Forest and the Milford on Sea League of Friends Health Hub, which provided teams of volunteers to undertake first aid.

Fiona added: “The festival was all about making people feel connected with each other – Milford is a very special place to live and we really celebrated that this weekend.

“The music festival is unique because it really is an event at the very centre of the village.

“We are already looking ahead to next year’s festival and planning what we can do to make it even better.”

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