The High Tide festival is back and bigger this weekend with performances from almost 70 bands artists across eight stages!

The event takes place this Sunday, across the Diamond Jubilee gardens and other venues in Twickenham, including Church Street, Arragon Road and York Street.

It will include nationally known artists, such as Deschanel Gordon, with performances running from around noon, as well as food and drinks available across the expanded site.

The Festival has been able to expand from its previous iteration in 2019 through the help of crowdfunding, raising £8,140 with 187 supporters in 28 days.

High Tide is the brainchild of Phil Penman and Kevin Jones , who together run the successful Eel Pie Records on Church Street.

Kevin said the idea for the record shop and then the Festival emerged from what he called 'a four pint conversation'.

"Having got Eel Pie Records up and running, we thought we'd have a crack at making the Festival dream a reality," he said.

That first Festival in 2019 was a huge success. "It surpassed our wildest dreams. We felt it was important to have a focus on new music and young artists alongside more established performers," he said.

"Our guiding principle was to reignite the spirit of Eel Pie Island in its heyday – so not rehashing the music but make it more about harnessing the energy of the Eel Pie Island scene around the hotel."

When asked about the potential of this year's event, he said: "Due to the wider space allocated for the event this year we're expecting the attendance to grow in scale with it. More people coming overall but spread over a bigger area with more activities to engage with."

Local businesses and organisations have thrown their weight behind the Festival, sponsoring some of the stages, including David McGeachie Property, Tsaretta Spice, Wags N Tales, the Eel Pie Pub, CITZN Brew, Madison Brook, Brewery Market, and the Twickenham Club.

Kevin said: "With increased support from local people and businesses, we've been able to book bigger names. We have a new stage on Diamond Jubilee Gardens, which will feature jazz music all day including some nationally known artists, including Binker Golding and Deschanel Gordon.

"The Errol Linton Band is returning to open High Tide on the main stage and we also have the winner of the Basement Door battle of the bands - Down With The Stereotype.

"A personal highlight will be seeing Stick In The Wheel who produced the Eel Pie Records album of the year in 2020.

"We have an amazing line-up on our Americana stage at CTZN Brew house on York Street, a raft of hugely talented spoken word artists at Brewery Market and once again, we have the cream of young local bands on the Basement Door stage. Alongside some high-quality street food and drinks, High Tide 2021 is a must!"