The popular area sees many visitors every year
People enjoying a drink at the Handyman Bar and Brewery at the Smithdown Weekender back in 2023(Image: Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)
Thousands of people are set to descend on one famous Liverpool street this weekend for a popular event that “keeps getting better.” Now celebrating its 10th year, Smithdown Festival is a free, four day event held over the bank holiday weekend, boasting everything from rock, indie and jazz music to DJs and spoken word poetry.
Taking place on Smithdown Road, the festival was started back in 2015 by Andy Scott and Kevin Mcarthur. It brings thousands of people to the area twice a year in May and October, to watch local talent at different stages held at venues along the length of the road.
Created with an aim of bringing bars together in the area and celebrating everything Smithdown Road has to offer, founder Andy said the pair are “proud of what the event has become.” Celebrating a decade of Smithdown Festival, Andy told the ECHO: “After 10 years, Smithdown Festival is such an important part of the culture of the local area now.
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“A free weekend of live music, arts and family fun aimed at literally everybody. You don’t need a ticket, you don’t need money in your pocket, just turn up and enjoy one of the 150 artists playing over the weekend.
“Whether you’re from Wavertree or Walton, it’s for anyone in the city to head round and enjoy. Myself and Kev are so proud of what this event has become over the years, and the cohesion it has brought to the local community and local businesses too.
Andy Scott, co-owner of Black Cat, Smithdown Road(Image: Liverpool Echo)
“A grassroots community festival doing everything it can to keep changing the area for the better. We are expecting thousands of people to turn up and enjoy themselves this year, it is our most ambitious event since Covid times.”
This Bank Holiday, Smithdown Road Festival has over 20 venues and stages of live music, DJs and family fun. This year, visitors can also see wrestling, visit the Penny Lane family area and the Quaker Garden alcohol free stage.
There is also the Liverpool Together program of events to tackle loneliness and isolation in older people in the city.
Musician Ed Poole, playing at the Black Cat for the Smithdown Weekender back in 2023(Image: Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)
The warehouse party was due to take place on Saturday, May 3, at the Wellington Yard. DJS G33 and Girls Don’t Sync Hannah Lynch and Amber Rose were lined up to perform, but this will no longer be the case. A message posted in Smithdown Ticket Exchange, a popular Facebook group among students, from the festival said: “Hi all, just in case any of you were planning to attend the festival warehouse afterparty this Saturday – it has now been postponed due to circumstances way beyond our control.”
The organisers said those who bought a ticket will receive an email from Skiddle offering a full refund. But they also confirmed that “the rest of the festival is very much in full swing, though.”
When the festival first started back in 2015, Andy was running a bar called Evil Eye on Smithdown Road, while Kevin owned Kelly’s Dispensary. Andy now owns Black Cat bar and bottleshop and Kevin runs the Handyman pub.
Smithdown Festival is returning (Image: Smithdown Festival)
He previously said: “The area was very segregated [in 2015], bars were all doing their own thing. There wasn’t much going on so I met up with Kevin and said, ‘Why don’t we do a festival to celebrate Smithdown Road?’
“Let’s get artists and DJs and whatever it might be and have a kick a**e weekend of live music. The weekend is always free.
“We didn’t know what to expect that first year. Everyone was really excited by it and thousands of people turned up on Smithdown Road that year. It was 2015 and we thought ‘there’s something in this – this is quite special.’ Now we do two a year in May and October.”
“I’m not saying the festival is totally responsible [for it] at all but we tried to make the area more of a destination, a bit more of a Lark Lane, where people go from bar to bar. That’s what we wanted to do with Smithdown Road.
“All these amazing places have opened – we’ve got LEAF, Belzan, Nomad. We’ve got all of these places popping up where you can go for a night out without having to go to town.”
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the world’s largest performance arts festival which takes place in Scotland every August. Andy said: “As time has gone on we’ve almost modelled ourselves on the Fringe Festival. It used to be that we would book every since act, now every venue is responsible for their own line up and we work together as a collective Smithdown Weekender.”
Smithdown Festival takes place between May 2 and May 5, 2025. You can see the full festival guide here.