A stage dedicated to murdered schoolgirl Alice Gross will return for the second year to Ealing's Hanwell Hootie - London's largest free music festival.
The Alice’s Wonderbands stage in St Mark’s proved popular last year, showcasing emerging talent in various genres, with the aim of establishing a music-making legacy in Alice’s name.
Alice’s Youth Music Memorial Fund is a charity associated with the stage to encourage bands with members under the age of 18 to riff to the 20,000 music fans expected in Hanwell this weekend.
Alice’s mum, Rosalind Hodgkiss, said: “I think this is a fantastic opportunity for young people. I think it gives them an opportunity to play in a different context.
“Alice was 14 when she died and she liked singer-song writers like Regina Spektor and Gabrielle Aplin.”
Alice was killed after disappearing from her Hanwell home in August 2014.
Her body was found in the River Brent on September 30 that year, while the prime suspect in the case, builder Arnis Zalkalns, was found dead in Boston Manor Park four days later.
Youth Music media consultant David O’Keeffe said: “The fund has so far raised £67,692 and helps young people in challenging circumstances across a broad range of things such as disability, mental health issues, young people with refugee status and people living in rural isolation.”
The Hanwell Hootie this year features 85 bands in 14 venues around Hanwell and Ealing and has attracted Glastonbury veterans RSVP Bhangra to headline the Viaduct Meadow stage. In 2016 it was shortlisted for two UK Festival Awards including Best Metropolitan Festival.
The festival started in 2013 to honour Jim Marshall OBE, founder and chairman of Marshall Amplification plc, whose shop along Uxbridge Road was used by Hendrix, Townsend, and Clapton.
Director of Hanwell Hootie, June Martin said: “It’s a legacy to Alice Gross and her love of music and supporting Youth Music, which is a national organisation for young people.
“It’s exactly what we set out to do - to bring the community together and to bring live music back into the Ealing fold.”
For more information visit:
- Facebook.com/thehanwellhootie
- Twitter #hanwellhootie
- www.hanwellhootie.co.uk
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