ROCKIN’ GUILDFORD, 1999
In July 1999, Entec began a long-running association with Guilfest, a popular, award-winning summer festival based in Stoke Park, Guildford, Surrey, that had been founded seven years earlier as Guildford Live by local businessman and live music fan Tony Scott. Originally a one-day event, by 1997 Guilfest had expanded to three days and within a further 10 years, with involvement from BBC Radio 2, it was running six stages.
Initially taking over the lighting contract for the main stage, which in 1999 saw James, The Saw Doctors and Jools Holland’s Rhythm & Blues Orchestra headlining, Entec later went on to become the event’s principal sound supplier. Countless Entec staff and freelance crew were engaged at Guilfest, which was also an ideal location for field testing new technology, prior to official release.
In the years that Entec serviced Guilfest, it was proud to work with Van Morrison, Joan Armatrading, Paul Weller, Roger Daltrey, David Gray, Culture Club, Motörhead, Pulp, Lonnie Donegan, Fun Lovin’ Criminals, Pretenders, Madness, Alice Cooper, The Darkness, Atomic Kitten, Katie Melua, Simple Minds, Blondie, UB40, The Pogues, Status Quo, Jamie Cullum, Love, Embrace, a-ha, Billy Idol, The Lightning Seeds, Gary Numan, Supergrass, Squeeze, Richard Thompson, Uriah Heep, The Levellers, Brian Wilson, Happy Mondays, The Charlatans, Toploader, Will Young, Hawkwind, The Blockheads, Orbital, The Human League, Tinie Tempah, Chase & Status, Razorlight, James Blunt, Adam Ant, Olly Murs, Bryan Ferry, The Boomtown Rats, Kool & The Gang and Boney M… to name just many.
Guilfest, which has sadly not returned since 2014 due to financial problems, is one of a number of festivals that Entec has supplied since its formative Reading days. As well as being directly contracted by Glastonbury, Roskilde, Fleadh, V, Larmer Tree and Lanhydrock, it continues to be one of the major ‘go-to’ sources for summer season dry hire packages
Guilfest 2014
