Annual Ale Fest - 27th to 30th August. Come and enjoy a wide range of local ales and ciders. It all starts on the evening of Friday 27th August with live music from Shebeen and a hog roast and then continues through to the evening of Monday 30th August - when the remaining brews in the ale tent will be "sold off" at half price from 4pm. Live music will feature throughout the weekend (scroll down to see an up to date play list) - anything from brass bands to jazz to rock, and off course, the steam engines will be at Drusilla's on Saturday (see below).
The South West Japenese Car Club will be at Drusilla's on the Sunday, come and enjoy the music, the ale and the cars!
On Monday the VDubs will "Run to the Pub (Drusilla's)" following their weekend in Wimborne. More live music, more BBQ and, in the evening, beer at sell off prices - the perfect end to an exciting weekend!
Annual STEAM UP - August Bank Holiday Weekend. This annual event, which supports the Victoria Hospital in Wimborne, features steam engines (who stop off on their way to the Great Dorset Steam Fayre), real ales, a BBQ/ Hog Roast and live music - a winning combination! Free entrance and free parking. This year's event will take place on Saturday the 28th August. It all starts on the Friday evening when the ale tent will open the hog roast will be lit and Shebeen will be playing in the marquee.
ALE FEST MUSIC PLAY LIST: (scroll down even further for info about the bands)
FRIDAY 27th AUGUST
8.30pm Shebeen
SATURDAY 28TH AUGUST
2pm Ferndown Concert Brass
4pm Portaco
5pm Skyfolders
6pm Ben Watling
7pm Skalite
8.30pm State of Undress
10pm Nuevo Rhythm Orchestra
SUNDAY 29TH AUGUST
3pm Skyfolders
4pm David Cassidy
5pm Ben Watling
6pm Skalite
7pm Rocking Goose
8pm The Sam Merrick Band
MONDAY 30TH AUGUST
5pm Repeat Offenders
7pm Ben Watling
Shebeen "The Hampshire Dubliners" play vibrant, exciting Irish music including all the traditional favourites. Established in 1989 this 4 piece band sing and play banjo and a range of guitars drawing their listeners in with sung tales and lively dance tunes. Their music is the perfect start to the ale fest!
Nuevo Rhythm Orchestra is a high quality Salsa band, based in London. Made up of young, professional musicians hand picked from some of the top music conservatories in the country, this band truly brings back the spirit of salsa, soul and jazz like never before!
Ben Watling is a 20 year old singer/songwriter from the New Forest and is currently studying at Trinity College Of Music in London were he divides his time between songwriting and performing. Ben takes influence from many different styles of music and attempts to portray this in his songwriting. He has recently recorded his first EP “Building On Stronger Foundations” and is enjoying performing with his new band consisting of Cello player Caroline Rankin, Bassist Loz Garrat and Drummer Dave Elliott.
State of Undress
‘ …Overflowing with spirit and a compelling energy … a performance that marries verve, power and a lung-busting joie de vivre … the accompanying blend of roots-rock, country, Celtic flavourings and a full-bodied melodic musical assault creates a powerful live combination …’ R2 Rock’n'Reel magazine
Skalite are an energetic Ska/Rock band based in Southampton. Having met at school the band have enjoyed playing gigs at various local venues after their debut performance at the Drusilla’s Inn Steam Up in August 2009. Expect to hear a wide range of songs including original tunes and covers of lots of popular favourites performed in a pumped up ska style.
A great live performance with tons of energy…Dan Burgess (Sound red Productions)
Skyfolders are two piece Tom Goodridge & Mike Perrin - playing in various forms for over 4 years - in other words, these boys know each other musically inside out. Their mantra is that playing acoustic music is not boring and the boys produce exciting, energetic and gripping performances. Playing a mixture of shoegazer, blues and indie, these boys know how to write a song - with catchy melodies and singalong choruses. Having played Dru's last year - they are looking forward to pick up where they left off and rouse a great crowd and bring their loyal (if tiny) fanbase!
The Sam Merrick Band – a jazz quartet developed from newly-accomplished musicians of the South.
Consisting of Sam Merrick (vox), Sam Hanson (pno), Daniel James (bs), and David Waller (drms), the musicians, even though young, already hold a wealth of versatile experiences between them. Their passionate involvement with music has led individual members to perform with jazz orchestras, Big Bands, classical orchestras, function bands, and a European tour of a musical-show. This led them to play at such prestigious venues such as the Royal Albert Hall, Swanage Jazz Festival, Exeter West Point Arena, Salisbury Cathedral, and the Bournemouth International Centre.
The band specialises in weddings, parties, corporate functions, restaurants and hotels, and by performing your most favourite jazz tunes, will perfect your special event.
Superbly seductive... Dorset Echo
ROCKING GOOSE is a Ferndown based, seven piece band that specialises in the music of the "Swinging Sixties". The band is a blend of youth and experience and some band members were actually part of the 60's scene. Apart from the usual mix of vocals, guitars, bass and drums Rocking Goose includes keyboards, which allows the original sounds of the sixties to be accurately re-created. If your record collection includes singers such as Del Shannon, Roy Orbison and Wilson Picket and bands such as The Beatles, The Searchers, The Kinks and Booker T &The MGs, this is an event for you.
REPEAT OFFENDERS are an experienced six-piece band playing a mix of classic rock and blues numbers. Our set list includes numbers from Pink Floyd, The Moody Blues, Joe Cocker and Gary Moore as well as a number of less well know bands such as The Atlanta Rhythm Section, Boz Scaggs, Uriah Heep and The Greatest Show on Earth
*all subject to change without notice