00:00So it's all systems go down here in Penkridge. You're with John Smith. Hello, boss. Hello, how are you?
00:04I'm good, mate. So Penkridge Open Air, this is your baby. This is it. This is the fifth year.
00:09So this is make or break, really, I think, for a festival and a business, really.
00:14But we've got a great turnout. It seems to be dry, so I'm pretty excited for the weekend.
00:19And are you kind of at the scale where you want it to be?
00:22Because you don't want it to keep getting bigger and bigger and bigger. That's not the plan.
00:26Yeah, the plan is definitely not for this to become the next major festival.
00:31Like Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds, obviously, is on this weekend.
00:35I think this is about 2,500 capacity.
00:38And I think we could probably push up to about 5,000 capacity in the future if we used every bit of this field.
00:44But I don't think we can get any bigger than that. But we're quite happy with how it is right now.
00:49Well, I mean, this year should be easygoing because you did the whole Covid thing.
00:53You had to section off little pods for people to sit in.
00:56I mean, you know, is it just a well-oiled machine now or is there still stresses putting this together?
01:01There's always stresses because, I mean, obviously, some of the vendors showing up have had, you know, one of them, their trailer's broken.
01:08And, you know, people will be late. And, you know, this will be late. And we forget about that.
01:12There's a lot of things to remember with this.
01:13There's so many little elements and there's so many people involved that if you just have one person that's integral to this event and can't make it or, you know, whatever, a vehicle breaks down and it's got things that we need, then obviously it's game over then.
01:27So it's always stressful.
01:29And gates open, is it 4 o'clock this afternoon?
01:31Yeah, 4 o'clock today on Friday and 2 o'clock Saturday and Sunday. Tomorrow, I think, will be a sellout. It's so close. I think maybe we have 100 tickets left tomorrow.
01:41Tonight's pretty busy. We'll be sort of like close to about 16 to 1700 tonight. Our capacity's two and a half, so it's pretty close. But, yeah, it's going to be good.
01:51So what can people expect then over the weekend? What sort of fun?
01:54Well, I think the great thing about this festival is it's nice and small, so it feels very cosy and it feels very family-orientated and very community.
02:04I mean, we've got the Midlands Air Ambulance part here, which is fantastic. We've got a BMX stunt show. We've got a circus show. We've got bits of entertainment, funfair.
02:12I think there's just a bit for everyone, so it doesn't matter who you are, your age or what you do.
02:16I think that there's something here for everyone, which I think is great.
02:19And, as I said, you just don't have to walk that far to get to anything, whereas these big festivals, you have to walk a few miles.
02:26Yeah, crazy. Yeah, yeah.
02:27And also, there's only one stage, so you don't sort of have conflicting artists. It's just all on one stage.
02:33So you just set yourself up, you get comfortable, get your food and drink and enjoy the show, and that's what's so great about it.
02:38And what sort of music have we got appearing on the stage then? A bit of something for everyone?
02:42To be honest, I'd book most of this based on my own personal preference, if I'm completely honest.
02:47I love all the music that we've got on. On the Friday, we've got, today, we've got Venger Boys, Artful Dodger, Entrance, Alex Party, Baby D, and we've got Mr. Motivator tonight.
02:58Cool.
02:59That'll be brilliant.
03:00Yeah.
03:00And tomorrow, we've got Nick Kershaw, Chesney Hawks, Go West, Katrina from Katrina and the Waves, Big Country.
03:06I feel like I've missed one out there. We've got Timmy Mallet as well, that's tomorrow.
03:08And then on Sunday, we've got Boney M, The Weather Girls, The Real Thing, Odyssey, Jackie Graham and Basil Brush.
03:15That's mad, isn't it?
03:16I mean, that's a proper line-up, that, isn't it?
03:18If you'd bought your ticket early, it was only £25 an adult, and even now, on the door, it's only £40 an adult.
03:25That's crazy, you know, when you get a full, yeah, a full day's fun with that, and, yeah, entertainment.
03:31We've tried to make it as affordable as we can, and, you know, so, yeah, so I think that's another reason why it's a great event.
03:36And Jackie Graham, Wolverhampton girl.
03:38Yes, exactly.
03:39Yeah, she's still...
03:40We try and use local, as any local people, local businesses, local charities are involved with this, so it's really just great.
03:46It's a great community thing.
03:48Everyone comes together.
03:49Everyone has a great weekend of fun, and, yeah, I'm looking forward, really looking forward to it, actually, this year.
03:54I think this is going to be a big year for us.
03:56Well, thanks, Johnny, for bringing someone so fantastic to our area.
04:00Cheers, buddy.
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