Stockport County music festival ‘a huge success’

A three- night festival of music, dubbed Wood-Stockport and attracting huge crowds to Edgeley Park, has been hailed a huge success as revellers called for this to become an annual fixture for County.

Stockport County Football Club would like to say a massive ‘thank you’ to everyone who came along to their three gigs at the weekend, which have received praise and rave reviews from all quarters.

The economic impact on our borough has been immense, with local pubs, restaurants and hotels reporting an uplift in numbers.

Across the three nights, the gigs brought 41,000 people into Edgeley Park, with many of them spending money around the borough and particularly in the town centre.

There were 12,000 people at the Paul Heaton & Jacqui Abbott gig on Thursday, another 14,000 on Friday and then 15,000 came to see Blossoms on Saturday, as the band played their biggest headline gig to date in front of their hometown crowd.

Thanks to Mike Petch for access to the great official images

County Chairman Richard Park said:

“This is the first time that Edgeley Park has ever hosted concerts on this scale, and it has been a huge success. 

“We were approached many months ago and as a board we knew how much work would be required and had to consider the potential impacts to the stadium, pitch and of course the neighbourhood, before we decided to go ahead.

“I would particularly like to thank our neighbours, the residents of Edgeley, for their patience and support during the past week, and I know how much they’ve appreciated our efforts to keep the disruption to a minimum.

“I would also like to thank our friends at SJM Concerts for helping to make these events so successful, and a special mention to our Commercial Manager Simon Dawson who has worked tirelessly to bring these gigs to life, ably supported by Simon Bellamy, Steve Bellis and Rick Hinks.”

Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott performed Paul’s recently released career-spanning collection, ‘The Last King of Pop’ whilst Blossoms showcased their brand new track, Your Girlfriend, which was released last week, before closing their set with smash hit Charlemagne.

Richard added:

“The gigs have affected our pre-season schedule, so we won’t be able to host any games at Edgeley Park whilst we work on the pitch, but we will be ready for the new season which kicks off on August 3.

“We will take stock in the coming weeks before looking at the possibility of hosting gigs in the future, but we’re certainly encouraged by the universally positive feedback from the borough and beyond.”

Image credit : Mike Petch