St Osyth Summer Sounds: A New Festival for St Osyth
In August 2025, St Osyth welcomed something brand new: a two-day pilot festival that blended world-class music, food and community spirit in the heart of our village. St Osyth Summer Sounds was not just another event on the cultural calendar, it was the first step in building a festival designed by and for the people of Tendring, one that will grow into an annual tradition.
Building the vision
Arts Trust, a local charity dedicated to reducing isolation and bringing communities together through cultural experiences, has been developing festivals for more than a decade across London and the Southeast.
Martin Collins, Director of Arts Trust, said: “St Osyth Summer Sounds is about more than music and food, it’s about bringing people together, reducing isolation and creating a sense of pride and belonging in our community. This first year showed us the incredible appetite for a festival hosted at the stunning St Osyth Priory, and we’re excited to grow it hand in hand with local people.”
The festival began to take shape last year, when Martin Collins and William Grinsted, Director of St Osyth Priory, sat down to share ideas and aims. The Priory could not have been more generous or supportive. They embraced the vision and, more importantly, helped build upon it with us. What started as a simple conversation quickly grew into a genuine partnership and a shared dream to create a world-class music and food festival right here in Tendring. Together with the Priory and our community partners, Clacton Arts Centre, we began laying the foundations, designing a festival that reflects both local pride and global ambition. Our aim has always been to welcome internationally renowned artists alongside grassroots talent, while also celebrating food, hospitality and the warmth of community.
“This is just the beginning – and we can’t wait to welcome everyone back next year.”
The pilot weekend
Across the weekend, audiences were treated to a varied programme that blended world-class performances and family-friendly experiences. Double MOBO Award-winning saxophonist YolanDa Brown brought her Bob Marley Songbook to the main stage, filling the air with the sounds of jazz, reggae and soul, while West End star Daniel Boys joined three special guests to deliver show-stopping musical theatre classics. Local artists including Grace Calver, Sophie Nash, Laura Wyatt, Cody Rox, Sinead Orme, and Jayden Well, to name a few, added distinctive folk and indie flavours, while the soaring harmonies of Keynotes Choir and the infectious energy of Ceilidh Tree got audiences singing and dancing along. Younger festival-goers were inspired by Sally McKay’s Free Drawing Project, creative workshops, and circus skills sessions led by local artist Victoria-Anne Gunfield, while Autin Dance Theatre’s 13-foot puppet, Eko the Sea Giant, roamed the site in a breathtaking walkabout performance.
The food and drink offering was just as vibrant, with the Producers Market & Food Festival showcasing global flavours and the best of local produce, while the Chef Stage hosted live demonstrations led by Saturday Kitchen’s Joe Hurd. Guest chefs included MasterChef finalists Madeeha Qureshi and Arbinder Dugal, Great British Bake Off’s Christiann De Vries, 2020 MasterChef winner Thomas Frake, and Adam Winsor, the Chef Technical Coach for Lifetime Training’s Chef Academy, who shared recipes and techniques at the Fire Pit Stage.
Community voices
Audience feedback was overwhelmingly positive. One festival-goer said: “That’s how I know I’m at a fantastic festival, when you wish you had a clone so you could do everything!”
Another reflected on its significance: “It’s great to have such positive, inclusive events in the area, particularly with the political climate as it is at the moment.”
For one family, the festival was life-changing: “I suffered really badly with postnatal anxiety and this was my little one’s first ever festival, it absolutely didn’t disappoint. We will absolutely be back next year.”
Others praised the smooth running of the event, from friendly staff and clean facilities to the Chefs Kitchen and food stalls: “It was a real family-friendly event and we were so glad to be part of it.”
The launch of St Osyth Summer Sounds confirmed a real appetite for the community-rooted festival in Tendring. With the Priory as partner and the community at its heart, the festival now has a platform to grow. As we look to the future, we want to deepen that sense of ownership and invite local people to get involved. Whether you are part of a choir eager to perform, an artist keen to run arts and crafts workshops with children, or someone with a creative activity to share with teenagers, we would love to hear from you. Please contact hello@artstrust.co.uk to be part of shaping next year’s programme.
As Martin Collins notes, “This is just the beginning – and we can’t wait to welcome everyone back next year.”
