Amy Winehouse's cousin who is Frankie Vaughan's son will be special guest at new Eat Breathe Live Arts Festival spotlighting creative talent in Derbyshire Dales

Eat Breathe Live Arts Festival will be hosted at Designate @ The Gate on Smedley Street, Matlock, on Saturday, June 17, 2023.

Mike McMaster and James Gordon are the creators of Eat Breathe Live. Mike said: “Our idea in putting the festival together was to showcase creative talent from around Derbyshire Dales, no matter what genre or expression. From musicians and DJs to poetry to comedy. Some are easier to find than others but I’m hopeful that giving a platform for people to perform from will help people get out more and showcase their talent. We’re hoping to make this an annual festival.

"The venue is perfect, it reminds us of a stage from our favourite British festival End Of The Road in Dorset and a pleasure to work with. We’re confident it will be a resounding success.”

Special guest at the festival will be David Sye, the son of Frankie Vaughan, who will provide the spoken word offering. A well-known British musician, his credits include singer for No Mad Karma and King Hippy bands. After serious illness and meeting with Mother Theresa, David survived the war in Bosnia where he was a DJ and more recently witnessed the tragic death of his famous cousin, Amy Winehouse. Expect deep insights into the world around us delivered in spoken word, backing tracks and storytelling. With new music on the way later in the year, David may even give the festival crowd a sneak peek into some of his new material.

Quartet Con Alma will entertain the crowd with Latin jazz music. The piano quartet’s name is derived from the Dizzy Gillespie composition and they are inspired by the likes of Horace Silver, Tom Jobim, Sergio Mendes, Chick Corea, The Jazz Crusaders, Tania Maria and Ray Bryant. Whether cooking on ‘Cubano Chant’, relaxing on ‘Poinciana’ or grooving on ‘Come With Me’, this music from the Latin Quarter is always performed Con Alma…“with soul”…

Singer-songwriter Phoebe Shaw performs her own songs and is a skilled interpreter of other songwriters’ work. She recently released her debut album New Leaf which is available to listen to on Spotify and iTunes. Phoebe is building on last year's successes where she performed to several thousand people at festivals in Germany and France. Closer to home she performed at the Cromford Mills 1771 Festival last year alongside Mark Radcliffe, The Boo Radleys and The Stereo MC’s.

Phil2, comprising Phil Wildboar and Phil Atkinson, will open the festival with bluesy classics, a touch of Tom Waits rasps and guitar craftsmanship.

There will be sets from two DJS during the event. DJ Ben Stunt will close the night with a mix of party music, including disco, funk, house, hip-hop, Afro, dub and reggae. Ben, a regular on the Derbyshire music scene, played in Swizerland’s Verbier as one half of duo Bubbadog & Stunt. The first DJ will be Align Audio, who is drum and bass connoisseur Martin Birds. Martin, who is originally from Matlock and owns Align Creative Studios, has collaborated with renowned names including Paul SG, Furney, Soul Structure, Madcap, MC Conrad and Soul Deep.

An open mic stage will offer the opportunity for those with an entertaining or creative streak to showcase their talent, whether it be comedy, magic, music or another art form.

And festival goers can win an original piece of artwork created by Zoe Genders which will be raffled off.

Eat Breathe Live Festival runs from 3pm until 11pm. Tickets cost £20, including food, and all ticket holders must be over the age of 14 years. To book, go to https://www.designateatthegate.co.uk/online-ordering