Last Train Home Festival returns to Darlington for seventh year
The popular live music and comedy festival which champions grassroots acts is set to return to Darlington town centre on Saturday 7 September. Last Train Home festival is an all-day multi-venue event organised by Tracks Darlington with five stages across venues such as The Forum, Darlington Hippodrome and The Hullabaloo Theatre hosting live music from national and local artists. The day will also bring stand-up sets from upcoming comedians via the Hilarity Bites Comedy Club.
The 2024 festival line-up includes alt-indie headliners Avalanche Party, local musician Finn Forster, Isle of Wight natives Coach Party, plus singer-songwriter Michael Gallagher on the music stages, with comedians Bethany Black and Mick Ferry and even more music and comedy acts to be announced. Up and coming North East act Jodie Nicholson also joins the festival which will finish with an afterparty DJ set from James Watson at The Forum.
Last Train Home Festival is curated and managed by Tracks Darlington, a community focused arts organisation, utilising funds from Arts Council England, Creative Darlington and Tees Valley Combined Authority.
Sarah Wilson, Co-founder and Events Manager at Tracks Darlington says: “'We are so excited to be able to bring the Last Train Home Festival back to Darlington. Last year was our biggest festival yet and we hope to grow on that this year. We've got brilliant headliners such as Avalanche Party, Finn Forster, Michael Gallagher and coming all the way from the Isle Of Wight to headline our Noisy Daughters stage, Coach Party – definitely not to be missed! We've also got our Hilarity Bites stage bursting with comedy talent.
We love working with our regional partners to make LTH such a special eclectic event. This year we have linked up with Shakk from BBC Introducing for the first time for some very special Shakk Festival Pickks showcasing some of the quality new bands he has championed on his radio show. We also have the return of LTH longtime partner and north east culture champions NARC who are programming one of the stages in the Hippodrome. I love that different programmers feed into the festival making it a big gorgeous melting pot of good stuff!”
Rebecca Howarth, Acting Programming and Development Director at Darlington Hippodrome says: “Last Train Home Festival goes from strength to strength and everyone at the theatre is very excited that our historic Hippodrome stage will once again host a vibrant line-up of incredible independent bands and artists.”
Cllr Chris McEwan, cabinet member for economy, Darlington Borough Council, says “I am delighted to welcome the Last Train Home festival back to Darlington venues this year. Events like these support our local economy and are a great way to attract visitors to our town, showcasing our diverse and thriving hospitality, leisure and retail offerings, including Hopetown, our newest visitor attraction.”
This year’s launch event Last Train Home Festival Express will take place at Hopetown Darlington on 5th September with intimate performances from Kathryn Williams & Withered Hand, plus Elaine Palmer and Mat Hunsley.
Tickets are £10+bf and are available here.
Tickets for the main festival are £25+bf and are available here.
