Belper extravaganza of music and beer

The third Freefall 360 Multimedia Beer Festival comes to Belper this weekend.
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Y Not - Friday Coverage. Eva Plays Dead

Hosted by The Drop Inn with the George And Dragon, it is being run by Node56 and takes place from Friday to Sunday (August 21-23), with 60 music acts involved over the course of the three days.

There are stages and four bars serving real ales, ciders and, for the first time, specialist cocktails.

The event, which is split between the Drop Inn and the George and Dragon, boasts one of Belper’s biggest music line-ups, art and live graffiti displays, live VJing, multimedia installations and creative workshops.

Organiser Tom Stone of Node56 explained: “The first festival in 2013 was brilliant but each year it has grown and attracted more visitors, we like to offer new exciting experiences for all the family.

“The idea is to raise awareness of Node56 and the Drop Inn. Any profits made go towards funding for the Drop Inn. The George and Dragon has supported us each year so this year we are taking some of the entertainment to them as well which means we can offer more variety.”

There will be live music performances on the Freefall main stage from artists and bands including; James Warner Prophecies, Eva Plays Dead, Jamie Joseph, Institutes, Royston Duxford, Dammit Jack, and the young, very talented Barnie Rubblz, to name a few.

DJs and other acts include international DJ A Skillz, One Bomb, Great Scott and Charity Shop DJ.

On Sunday, the stages host Seas of Mirth – a fun pirate band, The Idolins, Philharmonics, Amy and Lily, David Young, Alex Rainsford, and the ever popular Jasper In The Company of Others.

On the art/creative section of the festival there will be live graffiti displays from the Mimm collective.

There is also the FreeWall which is a designated graffiti zone where you can have a go at spraying some graffiti yourself.
Over the Saturday and Sunday there will be a series of creative arts and craft workshops for all ages.

Each workshop will follow and link into a story. Trinity Warriors will also showcase one of their dance performances on Saturday.

There will be a 3D printing display and an AR (augmented reality) installation, both a glimpse at the future of digital media.

On Saturday night, there will also be a live VJ performance from Urban projections.

This year, the event will have two real ale bars, one at each venue. There will be a great selection of real ales and ciders at each supplied by The George & Dragon.

The full menu will be published in the event programmes. The Drop Inn will be holding a specialist cocktail bar at various times over the weekend for the first time offering a wide variety of tasty cocktails and mocktails.

There will also be a selection of stalls to browse.

Andrea Fox, founder of the Drop Inn, the well-known youth facility. said: “I’m really grateful to Node56 for organising this exciting event, it has been hard work so we are hoping to attract a lot of people, not just for the music and creative but because it gives us a chance to show the Drop Inn. Any profit will also be welcome as it goes towards the new garden area of the centre.”

The Drop Inn is situated on Derwent Street, Belper, The George and Dragon on Bridge Street Belper. The event is open to everyone, the cost is £10 for a weekend wristband.