MEMBER: Eroica Britannia

The International Attraction of Being Handsome.

Eroica Britannia is Coming to Town! 20 articulated lorries full of production equipment, 3 miles of bunting, 2 miles of festoon lighting, 2000 straw bales, 300 beach deck chairs, 30 antique haberdashery cabinets, 2000 plants, an indoor/outdoor cinema and 30 tonnes of sand is just a fraction of what it takes to build Eroica Britannia. With a reputation as the World's Most Handsome Festival there is title to defend to ensure the handsome reputation remains intact!

It appears that being handsome is catching...This is a festival which in its second year has a beer created specially for it, courtesy of the award winning Thornbridge Brewery advertised on the sides of a fleet of vans. It is also a festival which has 2 fully Eroica Britannia branded brand new Volvo cars travelling around the UK courtesy of Volvo. It is also a festival which has 5 fully branded Eroica Britannia cement trucks covering thousands of miles every week thanks to Hope Construction Materials.

Eroica Britannia debuted in the UK in 2014 and attracted 30,000 festival go-ers to a 3 day celebration of the vintage lifestyle and cycling. Last year 2000 riders took part in the first Ride of its kind in the UK. An exhilarating challenge of riding a pre-1987 road bike on a choice of either a 30, 55, 100 mile adventure of the tracks, trails and sights of The Peak District.

The Ride, which sold out in just over 3 months has attracted 3500 riders from over 50 countries including the UK, America, Brazil, China, Germany, Italy, France, Australia stamping a truly international appeal on the area. Already Eroica Britannia fans are beginning to jet into the region from all around the World with their families and friends to take in the area and enjoy the festival which is a showcase of all things Great British.

In just a year the festival site has grown by a third to cope with demand and is geared up to 3 days of family fun including new features, a family ride, a gigantic vintage family sports day hosted on The Sporting Lawns, The Great British Beach (complete with ice-cream vans and deck chairs) and a vintage fairground including a helter skelter and steam gallopers.

The festival site will hold over 200 vendors who will be providing shopping experiences at The British Bazaar and acres of vintage including the World's greatest Bike Jumble at The Purchasable Exhibition of Treasures. This year a dedicated Food Festival within the Festival known as GRAZE has attracted award winning street food vendors from locally, regionally as well as nationally to fuel and sustain festival go-ers for the 3 days. Dogs will not be left out either! The Good Life Experience, a festival in its own right will be hosting a Canine meet up!

After the success of the live music and bands from 2014 the festival line up for 2015 has secured 3 days worth of some of the most exciting names in independent music including Jackie Oates Winner of BBC Folk Awards for best newcomer and best traditional track and quoted as 'A celebrity in the new folk scene’ by The Guardian. And One EskimO who has supported the likes of Tricky, Faithless, Paolo Nutini, Tori Amos all over the World.

For arts, culture vultures and fans of heroic tales and real life heroes there is inspiration aplenty hosted by Hendrick's Gin as Mark Herbert, CEO of Warp Films, one of the UK’s most critically acclaimed independent film and television production companies and BAFTA winning director & screen writer Shane Meadows will be in discussion with award winning screenwriter, Billy Ivory to give an insight into the new Tommy Simpson film. All 3 personalities from Warp Film will be riding on Sunday. Brian Robinson, the first British rider to complete the Tour De France in 1955 and the first ever British rider to win a stage in 1959 will be interviewed by journalist and broadcaster Chris Sidwells. Brian will also be taking part in The Ride and at 83 years he will probably be the oldest rider in the event.

Eroica Britannia has also attracted the internationally famous Malcolm Elliott to take up the challenge of The Ride on Sunday 21st June. A local pro rider from Sheffield, Malcolm is the 3rd most successful British male professional cyclist of all time (based on the number of wins in top international races).

Eroica Britannia has the support and sponsorship of Global brands including Volvo, Canon, Yorkshire Gold, LUSH, Hendrick's Gin, Smeg and local names such as Buxton Water, Thornbridge Brewery, John Smedley and Hope Construction Materials. The festival has also received the support of well known TV personalities such as Patrick Grant, British fashion designer (who is also taking part in the ride on Sunday) from The Great British Sewing Bee, who will both be judging the highly anticipated Best in Show 'giant fancy dress' competition with top prizes for winners from Festival sponsors including a top of the range Canon PowerShot G7 X.

Eroica Britannia has partnered with The Movember Foundation for a second year as who will be hosting an festival feast on Friday 19th June created by Chef Oliver Rowe, star of BBC2’s ’The Urban Chef'. He will be cooking up a homegrown and handsome feast celebrating the best in local produce from the fields, hills and rivers of the Peak District, all in aid of The Movember Foundation.

The 3 day festival builds to a crescendo on Sunday 21st June when 3500 riders take to the tracks and trails of The Peak District National Park on pre-1987 road bikes wearing flamboyant vintage clothing who travel between villages of the Peak to replenish and re-fuel at 'feast-stops' where villages put on huge spreads of local food and drink turning their village hearts into mini festivals in their own right with music, entertainment, singing and dancing along the route.

Nick Cotton from Eroica Britannia comments 'The Ride and the wonderful spectacle it brings to the area places Eroica Britannia in a unique position amongst other UK festivals. Our riders, their friends and family give us a core festival audience in addition to the tens of thousands of festival go-ers that flock into the area for the festival. The International attraction that Eroica Britannia brings to the area gives the chance for a vibrant showcase of local brands, accommodation, businesses and of course the natural beauty of the Peak District. Especially important for local businesses is the fact that riders and festival visitors journey into the area for pre and post event enjoyment of the region giving a welcome economic boost. We are delighted with the international reach we have achieved in only our second year.'

Nick continues; 'The Ride is just one part of the Festival. We have expanded ideas that we have been working on for many months to work alongside incredible sponsors and vendors to ensure that even if you have never ridden a bicycle in your life, our Festival will be an inspirational, fun-packed weekend full of top quality festival activities and entertainment carefully curated to be a Great British Adventure for all the family.'

For full details on line-up, sponsors activations and all the news visit http://eroicabritannia.co.uk/
Contact this organisation:

Eroica Britannia
The Bakewell Showground Agricultural Way
Bakewell
Derbyshire

DE45 1AH

kirstin@eroicabritannia.co.uk
eroicabritannia.co.uk/

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