Wickham Festival News

Hayseed Dixie

Hayseed Dixie is an American band which began in 2001 with the release of their first album, A Hillbilly Tribute to AC/DC. The band performs a mixture of cover versions of hard rock songs and original compositions.  Classic rock with a bluegrass twist, could anyone not like this version of  Bohemian Rhapsody (we’ll ask Roger on Saturday) …

Their style is a unique fusion of bluegrass and rock music and they are acknowledged as the creators of the musical genre “Rockgrass”. The band’s name is a linguistic play on the name of the band AC/DC.

Hayseed Dixie’s most recent album, “Hair Down To My Grass,” was released on January 12, 2015 worldwide and spent 3 weeks at the number 1 spot on the UK Country Chart. The band launched the new album in the UK with a performance of “Eye of the Tiger” on the Jools Holland Hootenanny New Year’s Eve BBC TV show.

The Proclaimers

We’re delighted to announce that The Proclaimers will headline the Sunday night (2nd August) at the 2026 Wickham Festival. They last appeared at Wickham in 2019 so they are long overdue a return visit having had to cancel in 2023 due to Charlie losing his voice the week before.  2026 will see The Proclaimers return with a new album recorded in the spring and back out live from early summer.

2022 had seen The Proclaimers release their 12th studio album to immense acclaim. Dentures Out saw them record again at the legendary Rockfield Studios in Wales with producer Dave Eringa.

The fire and ire of Craig and Charlie Reid remain righteously undimmed. Dentures Out is a record of the times, for the times, the twins at their political, observational, satirical and fist-punchingly tuneful best with guest guitarist James Dean Bradfield playing on a couple of tracks.

On their most political album since Sunshine On Leith, in the lyrical firing line are: the weaponising of nostalgia for electoral capital, porcine press barons, the comforting but distracting illusion of destiny, the hysterical bubble of modern life.

They kicked of a 14-month World tour in June 2022 followed by a series of summer festivals and regional concerts. October to December saw The Proclaimers embark upon their biggest and most successful sell out 35 date UK & Ireland tour.

2023 then saw The Proclaimers touring Australia and New Zealand followed by summer shows and festivals in the UK. 96 shows in total to over 500,0000 people.

Strikingly individual, twin brothers Craig and Charlie Reid emerged 31 years ago with their debut album This Is The Story and Top 3 single ‘Letter from America’. Since then their enduring appeal across generations has have over the years seen them enjoy huge success across the globe.

The Proclaimers songs are timeless, capturing a gamut of human emotions, written with poignancy, emotional honesty, political fire and wit. Their songs feature at weddings, funerals and everything in-between and there is one song, an early
celebration of falling head over heels in love that is known the world over and has become a staggering global anthem. There are many others that have gained great popularity in different parts of the planet and then there is a wide cross section of sublime songs embraced by a multitude that has kept up with The Proclaimers studio albums, compilation collections and extensive touring over three decades.

2018 had seen their ‘Angry Cyclist’ album released to immense acclaim, becoming their 8th UK, Top 40 album debuting in the UK Official Album charts at 17 and at number 3 in the UK Official Independent Album Charts.

The Proclaimers “Angry Cyclist World Tour” began in July 2018 and ended in September 2019, 111 shows in 14 countries to over 400,0000 people. The tour began in Stroud, England and ended at The Hydro in Glasgow. The tour included
their biggest ever tours of Scotland, England, Canada, New Zealand and Australia and notably in June 2019, The Proclaimers opened The Pyramid Stage for their 7th appearance at Glastonbury. The Proclaimers July 2019 Edinburgh Castle concert sold out in just under 10 minutes with Castle Concerts reporting this as the fastest sell out in their 25-year history. A second show at Edinburgh Castle was added, this show also sold out within 24 hours, which Castle Concerts reporting as never before seen demand.

Strikingly individual, twin brothers Craig and Charlie Reid emerged 34 years ago with their debut album This Is The Story and Top 3 single ‘Letter from America’. Since then their enduring appeal across generations has have over the years seen them enjoy huge success across the globe.

The Proclaimers songs are timeless, capturing a gamut of human emotions, written with poignancy, emotional honesty, political fire and wit. Their songs feature at weddings, funerals and everything in-between and there is one song, an early
celebration of falling head over heels in love that is known the world over and has become a staggering global anthem. There are many others that have gained great popularity in different parts of the planet and then there is a wide cross section of sublime songs embraced by a multitude that has kept up with The Proclaimers studio albums, compilation collections and extensive touring over three decades.

The Proclaimers have carved out a niche for themselves in the netherworld where pop, folk, new wave and punk collide. In the process, they have enjoyed Gold and Platinum singles and albums in UK, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

They have even inspired a musical, the play and film Sunshine on Leith. The movie was the fifth highest grossing Independent UK film of 2013. The stage version of the musical continues to be performed regularly to sell out crowds by productions throughout the UK and Ireland.

On BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island discs, David Tennant describes his first track by The Proclaimers –I could have chosen any and every track from this band, probably my favourite band of all time. They write the most spectacular songs, big hearted, uncynical passionate songs.

Earlier this year after Coldplay had performed Sunshine on Leith on BBC’s The Piano Room, Chris Martin saidThere is a whole other world of music behind that song that I’ve just been discovering, and they’re a wonderful, wonderful band. Now we live in the age of coolness doesn’t mean anything, just quality and soul. The Proclaimers make more sense than ever.

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    Another well-deserve

    Another well-deserved Award for Wickham village. What a lovely village Wickham is.Following the wonderful, amazing, astounding news that the very first year of entering South and South East in Bloom, Wickham were awarded GOLD,they are very pleased that their certificate is going to be put up on display in Warwick Lane in Wickham Square.

    You are all invited to join us on Wednesday 21 January at 10am when Cllr Craig Manuel, Chair of Wickham and Knowle Parish Council, will be unveiling the certificate and we will be talking about our plans for entering the village again in 2026.

    Please spread the word,the more the merrier 💐🌸
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    3 days ago

    Our Twitter Feed

    Looks like 2026 will be a great year at the Wickham Festival with @sawdoctors @The_Proclaimers Ferocious Dog and Curtis Stigers already confirmed with more to follow. Check out our gallery of pics from last year to get in the mood https://www.wickhamfestival.co.uk/gallery/wickham-festival-2025/
    http://www.wickhamfestival.co.uk/tickets

    2

    We are delighted to announce that long-time Wickham favourites @sawdoctors will be headlining Saturday night (August 1). Tickets on sale now http://www.wickhamfestival.co.uk

    We will be announcing another major headliner at 9am on Friday. We have had many requests to bring back this great party band who have been popular here for decades. Any guesses?

    Widely recognised as one of the world's greatest guitarists, Australian Tommy Emmanuel will make his Wickham Festival debut on Sun. 2nd Aug. 2026.

    We're delighted to announce that the great American singer & saxophonist CURTIS STIGERS will be returning to Wickham in 2026 on Sun. 2nd Aug. Day & weekend tickets now onsale via http://www.wickhamfestival.co.uk/tickets

    We're delighted to announce that The Proclaimers will headline the Sunday night (2nd August) at the 2026 Wickham Festival. Day & Weekend tickets now onsale. http://www.wickhamfestival.co.uk/tickets