Hawkwind head up annual Hawkfest in August

Space rock legends Hawkwind have confirmed that this year's Hawkfest will take place as planned, over the weekend of August 27-29 at Axminster in Devon.

Hawkwind themselves will headline the event and there will also be appearances from The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown, Soft Machine, Gordon Giltrap, Tim Blake, The Blackheart Orchestra, Here And Now, Ginger Wildheart And The Sinners, Son Of Man and many more.

“We’re looking forward to bringing Hawkfest back this year after all the grief and hardship of the past year," says Hawkwind mainman Dave Brock. "Hawkfest is always a special place, instilled with the values of the band. I’ve always felt a certain sadness that the larger festivals lose some of that intimate, carnival-like atmosphere so we keep Hawkfest as traditional as possible – family friendly, safe, interesting and above all, open. Hawkfest is a community - there are no private backstage areas so you end up with this beautiful community spirit, bands mixing with fans. When you have less rules, the fewer rules people break!"

This is the band’s (and indeed many of the line-ups) first live show in 18 months, and with a new album, Somnia, out on September 10 there will be plenty of new and old numbers from Hawkwind’s veritable back catalogue.

The Hawkfest site is situated in a picturesque part of Devon’s Jurassic Coast overlooking the sea, with four days of camping and parking (+ site facilities) included in the bargain price of £120 per person, with children going free. Other attractions made part of the festival include a kids area, bars, stalls, food, dog shows, Hawkwind memorabilia animal charity auctions, workshops (including a guitar workshop with Dave Brock!) and Question Time with television’s and former Prog Awards host Matthew Wright.

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Writer and broadcaster Jerry Ewing is the Editor of Prog Magazine which he founded for Future Publishing in 2009. He grew up in Sydney and began his writing career in London for Metal Forces magazine in 1989. He has since written for Metal Hammer, Maxim, Vox, Stuff and Bizarre magazines, among others. He created and edited Classic Rock Magazine for Dennis Publishing in 1998 and is the author of a variety of books on both music and sport, including Wonderous Stories; A Journey Through The Landscape Of Progressive Rock.