Sky Rise Festival going ahead come rain or shine!

18th June 2025 Submitted-Content

Sky Rise Festival, Saturday 12th July 2025 (12pm-9pm) – Longmarsh, Totnes

Last year the music and arts festival had to move into the Civic Hall due to bad weather. However, this year organisers are putting things in place to make sure it stays in the stunning riverside location. ‘We’ve got more marquees and created plan for easier access to avoid damage to grass – they’ll need to be a hurricane to stop us partying on Longmarsh!’ says event manager, Jonathan.

The brainchild of veteran festival organiser, Jonathan Elliott (Bridgetown Alive! & Talk Action), the event is run by volunteers and a lot of love.

Jonathan has been trying to put this event on for several years but has been scuppered by funding issues, weather and lockdown. But now finally his idea is becoming a reality – “It has been such a joy meeting new people and seeing how the community has come together to make this happen.”

Music Stages

The event has two awesome live music stages, DJs, kids’ area, street food stalls, bar, new climate zone and craft & info stalls. There’ll be a giant inflatable outdoor stage with live bands playing hip-hop, funk, reggae, ska and drum & bass. The other indoor stage will have an eclectic mix from folk, shanty, pub sing-alongs, Jazz and ukulele fun!

Line-up includes:

Shred Band (Brass driven funk – formerly The Kingstons)
The Bridge (Funk, soul & reggae with wild horn section!)
Kid Hyena (Tap dancing party tunes from Barcelona)
Reo & the Novo Collective (live hip-hop/soul)
Totnes Ukulele Orchestra
Tarn Francois Power Trio (Deep blues with special guest harmonica player)
Saf Juno (Acoustic set)
Totnes Jazz Workshop
The Sea Gals (Shanty)
The Diamond Family Archive (Psychedelic Duo)
Totnes Ukulele Kollective
Andy (Totnes Singalong)
gwEm + mc appl juic (Hip-hop)
DJ’s: Dub Selectors Raven & Brother Blackbird, Gareth Parsons (Funk/world)

New Climate & Biodiversity Zone

Activity & information stalls from Transition Town, Incredible Edibles, Food in the Community and more…

Kids Area

There’s a huge kids’ area with art workshops, forest school, bushcraft, circus skills, African drumming, Lego area, craft activities, face-painting, solar flare sun telescopes & hula hooping. There will also be an adventure trail and giant canoe rides on the river.

Food & Bar

A fantastic array of stalls includes food from Greek Gyros, Pizza Pirates & Dangerous Dads Café. Our super friendly bar with local beer from The Albert Inn brewery.

The event is funded by South Hams District councillors, Totnes Town councillors and local business sponsors.