Chesil Rocks 2022
Updated: Nov 9, 2022
The ninth Chesil Rocks music and arts festival took place over three days this year, starting with a Comedy Night at Langton Herring Village Hall on Thursday 16th June. This sold out event was compered by an excellently on-form Tom Glover and also featured comedians Dave Arnold and Suzy Bennett. Sponsored by Dorset Wood Fired Pizza, all guests received half a complimentary 12" pizza during the interval.
On the Friday evening, the Chesil Rocks Prelude took place, set in a marquee in the beautiful grounds of Higher Farmhouse and where nearly 100 people enjoyed performances from concert pianist Duncan Honeybourne, the Dorset String Quartet and opera from Stella Brading. Guests dressed up for the occasion, received a complimentary glass of Prosecco on arrival and during the interval a light supper.
On the Saturday, the main Chesil Rocks event took place in the grounds of Higher Farmhouse - was also sold out - and featured performances from the Portesham Ukulele Band, Wessex Musical Theatre, Stealing Whiskey, the Dorset Wrecks, Bridport Big Band, the London Gay Men's Chorus, Sarah de Warren, NUMB (Never Underestimate Musical Belief), the Leylines and Tankus the Henge.
Sponsored by an anonymous donor, the winner of an Environmental Song Competition, Elijah Wolf, performed his song 'Fast Forward to Rewind' to the audience, and received £700 in prize money. Runners up included Millie Ashford with her song 'Our World' and Daniel Almond and Laura Urquhart with their song ‘Pigeon-Hole’ and they shared £200 and £100 respectively.
Following our events this year, we were delighted to be able to give the Dorset branch of Samaritans a total of £20,000. This represents half of their annual budget and will enable them over the next year to focus less on fundraising and more on what they do best. We would like to convey our most sincere thanks to our sponsors - and in particular to RiskStop Group Ltd, Symonds & Sampson, 3SC Scaffolding, Robert Mayo and one sponsor who wishes to remain anonymous.
We would also like to thank our multitude of volunteers and helpers - singling out Jon Lewis, Martin Pearson and Max Neilson-Howes - whose dedication and commitment have been unparalleled and to our amazing photographers Neil Crick and Nataliia Honcharenko.
The Chesil Rocks 2022 video (courtesy of Nataliia Honcharenko):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WPjgTuF3sQ
Photos taken at Chesil Rocks in 2022 (courtesy of Neil Crick and Nataliia Honcharenko):
