27/07/2026
Well, crikey. What a ruddy day that was. A Herofest for the ages.
48 bands
4 Stages
2 Incredible Charity
1 Venue
1 Day
We’re delighted to confirm that Herofest 2026 raised an OUTRAGEOUS £11,275.00 raised for Elliott Holmes Memorial Fund & One Big Family - Helping the Homeless.
Herofest event doesn’t just happen on it’s own; there is a HUGE team of people in the background working away to make it happen.
So I’d love to pass on my sincerest thanks to every single member of the 48 bands/acts that performed on the day; without your energy and commitment our event would be absolutely nothing.
You generously donated your time and performances, bringing your friends and family and buying into the community vibes we love to bring at Herofest.
We owe you everything.
Huge thank you to my co-promoters Aaron Lee and Paul Smith (Be Sharp Promotions) for all their hard work, with Aaron being the main point of contact with the pub and Paul booking an entire stage of top-notch bands that have really levelled up (intended) our game in the last few years.
To Terry Lee for his 50 year steward ship of The Best Live Music Venue In Kent™ and his incredibly generous £1,000 donation and all the bar and security staff at the Red Lion who worked tirelessly to keep us all satiated and safe all day.
Food Huts:
Emma Young & her incredible Team for keeping everyone fed with their delicious and tasty offerings.
Logo / Poster Design:
Pete Clarke- endless patience for re-designs and ad hoc requests. My bad Petay, my bad.
Merch Stall:
Anna / Shifra / Tracey / Julie/ Simon/ Becci / Heather
Merch Design Team:
Pete Clarke Designer
Dead Man's Hand / Paul Brightman for production and stepping in with Swampstomper at the last minute when one of the bands pulled out at short notice. He even found a dep (my old mate James Cruttwell) to fill in on bass at the double last minute.
Engineers:
Vic Wintergreen (Steve Davey) / Gumby (Matthew White) / Richard Finnigan/ Tyla Williams
Every year these guys rock up at 10am, work their absolute nuts off for a 15 hour shift and are the last ones to leave; they are the Herofest MVP’s and the event simply wouldn’t happen without their commitment and generosity. 48 acts in one day is ridiculously ambitious effort, but they do it year after year, donating their time and skills for free to ensure that ALL the money goes to the charities.
Equipment Lending:
Stuart Jessop from Beastfest UK – Cabs/Drums
Daniel (Drums) / Chris (Drums)
Dave Irving (Cabs you left at The Lion 12/13 years ago)
I think it’s fair to say that this year marks a watershed moment for me personally, I’ve been running charity events for 20 years, this year I was on a mission to hit £100,000 raised. I can now confirm that since 2006 the total fundraising effort sits at a frankly ridiculous:
£111,215.58
This means that the rest of the years events I had planned are less of a “Road To £100k” but more of a “Celebration Of £100k”; so hopefully we’ll see you at the Antfest Warm Up at Poco Locoin August and Antfest 20th Birthday party back where it all started at the Command House in September.
As some of you know, the two charities are very close to our hearts; having lost people to su***de ourselves and my personal connection with One Big Family: Helping The Homeless who supported my brother Jonathan off the streets before he passed in 2019.
With these events and fundraising efforts we honour and remember Elliott, Jonathan, Steve and all of our other family, friends and loved ones that we have lost and we encourage people to speak out about their mental health.
The work these charities do is phenomenally important and we’re so so pleased that we are able to support them with the work we do.
Thank you so much for everything.
❤
