A festival ideal for people who love the outdoors, camping and Volkswagens will be making a return to Northumberland during this summer's Father's Day weekend with a line-up set to cater for just about everybody else too.
The annual VW blast, which started out as a small event in 1982 and grew into the Mighty Dub Fest, has made Alnwick its home, following a stint in Newcastle, and will run there from June 17-19. Besides its highlight showcase of vehicles - from vintage Beetles and 1960s Splitty’s to the most modern T6s on the market - the festival celebrates live music, with a non-stop line-up which this time around will include The Beatles tribute band The Cavernites and New Jersey punk rock band The Scandals playing on the main stage.
What's known as the VW festival initially took shape when its organiser bought his first car. The 1972 VW Beetle, which sat on his drive for a year waiting for him to pass his test, then caught fire and burned out three years while it was being welded but by then his love for Volkswagen Campervans was born - as was the first festival, which he set up with another VW enthusiast from Newcastle.
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The Mighty Dub became established in 2010, with the first festival held at Newcastle Racecourse but a spokeswoman said that, despite the good turn out there, the fact it could not accommodate dogs or BBQs "meant that the venue was a no-go in the VW scene." Its next venue was Druridge Bay Country Park in Northumberland then , as it grew, it moved to a larger field there before finally finding its home at Alnwick.
Now in its 12th year, the festival's three-day run - with Father's Day bang in the middle, on June 18 - will take place on its pastures site overlooking Alnwick Castle with 'non-stop entertainment' to include what it says is to be its best live music line-up to date, spread over four stages, with the likes of bands Reloaded, Discography and Big Red and The Grinners.
The main stage will host more than 18 bands over the weekend while an acoustic stage will feature the likes of Tom Dibb’s famous Live Lounge Stage. A family entertainment tent will host quizzes, a Slaters Fairground, bingo and children's discos.
Also on the programme will be dog shows, circus skills, fire shows and magicians. There will be trade stands too, with more than 70 stalls already booked along with 10 street food units, and those campervans - old and new - will be out in force.
The spokeswoman added: "Mighty Dub Fest is an established event within not only the VW calendar but a highly-anticipated event within Northumberland." The camping side attracts visitors from across the UK, boosting tourism and local businesses, she said.
Tickets for the festival are available online, including day tickets which also will be available to buy on the gate. For advance tickets and more information see here.
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