Oxjam is now one of Britain’s most popular music festivals, bringing local communities together to raise vital funds for one of the worlds biggest charities.
James Jezusek, organiser of the first Lincoln event, explained that the Lincoln leg is just the start of many things to come and that their aim is to fight poverty. “Oxjam is a grassroots festival, created by a network of music lovers stretching from Penzance to Fort William. Oxjam is thousands of volunteers and hundreds of thousands of fans making music and fighting poverty in their local communities.”
The events take place in October in different towns and cities across the country. “The first Oxjam festival took place in October 2006. Since then almost 40,000 musicians have played to over 800,000 people at around 3,000 Oxjam events nationwide,” Jezusek said.
The events would not go ahead without the hard work and dedication from thousands of volunteers who live in the areas that Oxjam visits. “It runs all through October with hundreds of events around the UK, all organised by volunteers who know and love their local music scene, all raising money to save lives around the world,” Jezusek explained.
For one month only, venues across the country are turned into a festival haven for music lovers who enjoy new upcoming bands and solo singers. Oxjam allows the audience to experience music in many ways and events in the past have offered an alternative location and unique format for audiences.
“These diverse local music events have ranged from the amazing multi-venue one-wristband-gives-access-to-all Oxjam Takeovers, to a sponsored busk on top of Ben Nevis, and everything in between,” Jezusek explained.
Everyone must remember the real reason behind Oxjam. The music festival raises vital funds for the charity Oxfam and helps support people in developing countries. “Oxjam has raised over £1.5 million in total for Oxfam: enough to buy 13,000 emergency shelters; 60,000 goats or 900 classrooms,” Jezusek continued.
The festival has been supported by a large number of musicians and thanks to them, the event has continued to flourish. “Celebrity supporters including Jarvis Cocker, Hot Chip, Fatboy Slim, Basement Jaxx, Editors, Roots Manuva and others have performed intimate gigs in an Oxfam shop to launch the festival,” said Jezusek.
Local bands are encouraged to take part in the event and Jezusek explains how they managed to choose bands so that there is something to suit everyone’s music tastes at the show. “For the Lincoln event, a competition was announced on social networking sites and bands had to submit their best songs and bands were then selected by our panel of judges.”
The Lincoln event will take place at Tokyo Lincoln on Saturday, October 29th and will include performances from a range of local artists such as Elliott Morris and Little Imp.
Tickets are £5 in advanced or £8 on the door and are available to buy from www.wegottickets.com
For more information about the event visit the official Oxjam Lincoln website.