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Sunshine Festival: Music, tribute acts and comedy 150 150 mhamer

Sunshine Festival: Music, tribute acts and comedy

Jimmy Cricket with Sunshine Festival organisers Spencer & Phil

Famous funnyman Jimmy Cricket  appeared at this year’s Sunshine Music Festival in Worcestershire over the August Bank Holiday weekend.

The Sunshine Festival programme

Set amid the idyllic scenery of Upton-upon-Severn, the festival has been growing over the past couple of years.

The 2016 sellout event featured a host of iconic music performers on the main stage such as Midge Ure, Leo Sayer, the Bay City Rollers, Sister Sledge and T’Pau.

It also featured a Variety Stage and a second smaller musical platform presenting tribute performers.

Jimmy, 70, featured on day two of the festival and his slot was on the Variety Stage, alongside the likes of Bobby Davro, Mick Miller and Kiki Dee.

The 2016 Sunshine Festival schedule

He said: “I enjoyed my visit to the festival and appreciated the help of event organisers Spencer & Phil (pictured top with Jimmy) and the Variety Stage’s sound engineer, Phil (bottom).

“I even bumped into my cousin’s daughter, Moria, who was at the event with her family. Moira’s mother originally came from Tangradee in Country Armagh before she decided to move over to England.”

Already scheduled to appear at the 2017 edition of the festival are The Three Degrees and Elkie Brooks.

Jimmy Cricket with the festival's Variety Stage sound engineer, Phil

Sinatra tribute singer thrills audience 150 150 mhamer

Sinatra tribute singer thrills audience
Frank Sinatra tribute act Frank Forde compered the Manchester City FC Social Club in the 70s

Frank Sinatra tribute act Frank Forde compered the Manchester City FC Social Club

A Frank Sinatra tribute artiste and performer delighted the audience with his singing at Jimmy Cricket’s latest Golden Wellington Club night.

Manchester-born Frank Forde received a rapturous reception for his performance on another night of top music and comedy at St Vincent’s Parish Centre in Norden, Rochdale.

Jimmy said: “Frank compered the Manchester City FC Social Club for many years in the 70s. It opened from Wednesday to Sunday and had three acts a night.

“His vocal impressions brought him a big following among the patrons and he was on first-name terms with most of the players at the time.

“One of his best friends is Mike Yarwood who had his own television series and specialised in impressions of Harold Wilson, the-then Prime Minister.”

Frank’s website says he “had the pleasure of introducing and performing with some of the top stars”.

These included Bill Haley & His Comets, The Drifters, Matt Monro, Frankie Vaughan, Mike Yarwood, Bob Monkhouse, Ken Dodd, The Supremes, Tony Christie, The Three Degrees, Lulu and most of the TV comics like Freddie Star, Bernard Manning, Frank Carson and – of course – Jimmy Cricket!

To hear Frank singing at the Golden Wellington Club, go to the homepage of this website and click on the arrow in the middle of the screen.