Summer Soulstice

Soulstice HQ Changes

2022 has been a record breaking, fundraising year and enjoyed a sold out Summer Soulstice after a three year hiatus. Over £52,000 was raised for Cherry Lodge Cancer Care and this continues to be an amazing feat when the festival is planned and staged by a group of volunteers. Sadly though, we are saying good bye to a few of these long serving crew members, who’ve decided to call it a day after this year’s success.

JAMIE TOPHAM

We say farewell to our ‘leader’, our very own impresario and a man of many talents, artistically, musically, with a sharp business mind, a visionary who initially took our humble event on to a whole new level. JT was there from the start and we began with good intentions to raise money for Cherry Lodge in memory of Andy Weekes, but our early efforts were really hard work and the safety of our customers, getting them parked up and then home safely were a big concern. In addition, we had to clean up a 14 acre field the next day, which was back breaking!

On a couple of occasions we even had to build the stage ourselves, but despite all this there was a growing love for the event and we even got ourselves a couple of great sponsors. But we just needed one more spark and that arrived from within our ranks.

Jamie it was, who had an insatiable desire to make this event bigger and better and over the course of the next decade that’s what he did, despite bad weather, a robbery and a pandemic, Summer Soulstice grew into the event it now has become.

Better sound and security, a safe and friendly camp site, more DJs in more arenas and top live acts on a fabulous main stage. Our own bars, a better selection of food traders, improved marquees, a free kids play area, better parking, and a professional company to clean up after us!  From the start of Summer Soulstice in 2007, Jamie also fully embraced the advances of modern technology, so rather than flyers and posters we were now in the era of online advertising, social media and eventually ticketing.

We made trips over the years to similar festivals to get more input, met mayors, MPs, council officials and difficult local farmers along the way! Richard Weekes and Greg Hall turned JT’s famous site plans into reality along with our loyal group of ‘grunts’ and although hard work, we got there in the end. He and his wife Lisa grappled with costs, monies, contracts and VAT returns and despite this, Jamie managed to maintain a lugubrious good humour throughout! “Everything OK?” I’d ask him, “Everything’s copacetic Jamesy” he’d reply (you may have to look that up, it was our little joke!)

Some 25 years ago I was visiting Andy in California and I asked him what he missed about England, about Barnet? “Oh, I miss my family and friends of course. I miss the soul scene and playing cricket and rugby at the Old Elizabethans… and of course a few beers!”

It was our misfortune that these elements were to entwine a few years later with Andy’s passing. But something wonderful came out of this sadness, an annual soul event that has raised much money for Cherry Lodge and a music festival in a genre Andy and many of us loved so much, a dazzling tribute made glorious reality by our JT. 

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JAMES ANTHONY

We also have to say farewell to our Master of Ceremonies and long serving DJ, James Anthony.

James made his debut at our second event back in 2008 and a year later, was our man fronting the main stage which was then just a small, rattling corrugated sheet covered platform, unrecognisable compared to the impressive Artel-built wonder that is our focal point today.

And James has been holding much of the show together ever since, both at Soulstice itself introducing the artists and DJs and with his input at many of the dozens of planning meetings, as well as appearing at our Big Payback events a few times.

He is a tremendous communicator and his DJ skills are second to none, enhanced by a calm and professional demeanour. His contacts in both the soul and overall music industry have meant he has helped bring in so many top, live acts to Barnet’s field of dreams, and his positive presence and cheerful persona will be sorely missed by all of us.

We wish James all the very best for the future and we will continue to tune in to his brilliant shows on Mi-Soul Radio.

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RICHARD HOCKINGS & BRAD MURFET

Summer Soulstice has always been dependant on a core of dedicated, hard-working volunteers to stage the event for some fifteen years now and many of our Crew have been with us from the very start.

A couple of these wonderful people have decided to call it a day and they go with our respect and admiration. Unseen, working tirelessly on site in the lead-up to the event and during and after, these are a team of old friends of the Weekes family, contemporaries of Andy, who played sport with him on the very fields we use, and have for years built and kept the event ticking over. These are practical guys, they fix generators and lighting, move huge swathes of fencing and can turn their hand to anything. Greg Hall’s platoon perform every year like a well oiled machine, turning our site plan into reality. Two of them are leaving after many years of unstinting support.

Richard and Brad have our thanks and eternal gratitude for all their tireless efforts over the years. Their stoicism in the face of so many logistical and mechanical problems has been a marvel to behold as has their unstinting, sometimes strained good humour! They have been the backbone of Soulstice, the very Heart and Soul. Richard even found the time to take some great pics, which can be found on our gallery. Good work fellas!

As the best soul fest moves forwards, much love and thanks goes out to the aforementioned from myself, all the Crew, Cherry Lodge and the thousands of supporters and soul mates!

Dave James (Chair of Summer Soulstice)