Midlands Music Festival
The Midlands Music Festival was an annual festival held in the Castle Grounds, in Tamworth organised by charity Just1Life. The first show took place on 8 August 2009 and featured top acts including Lemar, Sugababes, Blue and JLS. It is estimated that over 15,000 people attended the event, according to BRMB.Yearly Line-Ups
2009
Main Stage: Blue, Sugababes, Lemar, JLS, Eoghan Quigg, The Automatic, Liz McClarnon, Austin Drage, Rachel Hylton, Chico, Andy Abraham, Laura White, Twenty Twenty, Everybody Looks Famous, Double Time Heroes2010
The 2010 Midlands Music Festival is a 2 day event on the 17th and 18 July. The Saturday is a "Back to the 80's" day and the Sunday is "The Biggest Chart Acts" Attendance levels are expected to reach 20,000.
The festival however, is not without controversy. Hosted in the grounds of Tamworth Castle, which is held in covenant for the people of Tamworth by the local Borough Council, many residents of Tamworth are aggrieved at the lack of accessibility to the grounds during the festival, effectively banning people from their own land.
Further controversy surrounds the billing of the festival as a 'live music event' amidst allegations that several of the major acts mimed during their sets in 2009 rather than performing live as billed.
Saturday: Billy Ocean, Hot Chocolate, Hue and Cry, Kajagoogoo, Level 42, Aswad, Sister Sledge, Shakatak, Alexander O'Neal, The Christians
Sunday: Westlife, The Saturdays, Scouting for Girls, Alexandra Burke, Chipmunk, Peter Andre, Taio Cruz, Olly Murs, Everybody Looks Famous, McLean, Twist and Pulse, The Wanted, DJ Ironik, Connected