Second Eat in the Park festival proves massive hit with Buxton crowds

The air of anticipation was palpable as the event returned for its second edition, with word of mouth driving sell-out crowds to this exciting addition to the town’s summer calendar.

Jake Burnham, who organises the festival with friend George Darbyshire, said: “It was an unbelievable, amazing weekend. We tried to improve things on last year and already the feedback we’ve had makes us feel we’ve succeeded. We’re euphoric about how it went.

“Our Wi-Fi went down for 24 hours just as we were opening on Saturday, so there were a few teething problems behind the scenes, but the weather was tremendous, the headliners were superb and the new food and drink vendors went down really well with everyone.

“Seeing Killer Queen close the weekend with every single person in the main arena singing along to every word, it made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.”

Along with the tribute to Freddie Mercury and co., the festival line-up was stuffed with cover acts such as the Antarctic Monkeys, Coldplace, the Ed Sheeran Experience and the Courtbetweeners, backed up by the cream of local talents.

George said: “The Eat in the Park tent and the kids’ zone proved massively popular. We tried to formalise both this year with a bit more structure and it created a great atmosphere.

“A big thank you to the whole team and all our festival partners, especially our headline sponsors Buxton Brewery, High Peak Borough Council and Parkwood Leisure for allowing us to stage the event there, and really everyone who attended and supported what we’re doing.”

The pair sounded a little worse for wear as they cleared out the site on Monday, and both are now looking forward to some well earned rest – but already thoughts are turning to next year’s festival.

Jake said: “We’ve already started drawing up a line-up for 2023, and we’re thinking about a couple of smaller events in the meantime, so keep your eyes peeled. We’d like Eat in the Park to become an annual event everyone can look forward to. It feels like we’re here to stay.”

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