WATCHET rocked to the sound of the biggest of its ‘big-name’ line-ups as the town’s summer music festival marked its ninth year at the Parsonage Farm site.

The bank holiday weekend entertainment featured music legend Bob Geldof and the Boomtown Rats as the headline act but the campaigning activist – who booked into Williton’s White House for the duration and also surprised customers in the village’s Cream café – was backed up by a string of top performers from cult band Big Country to ‘80s success The Blow Monkeys.

And Watchet LIVE chairman Mark Bale and his wife Jackie, who have steered the three-day festival with the help of a dedicated committee since its beginnings on Watchet’s East Quay, dubbed the 2015 event as one of the best.

“We had the biggest take-up of pre-sold tickets and the maximum 4,000 people on site and enjoying the entertainment on all three days for the first time ever,” said Mark.

There were also more local ticket sales than in previous years and more people staying off-site boosting the local bed and breakfast, hotel, pub and restaurant trade.

Organisers admitted that, logistically, the 2015 festival had been one of the most difficult to bring together, with the high calibre line-up of acts and the maximum number of festival-goers.

Jackie said: “But we’ve had terrific feedback from the bands who said they really enjoyed coming to Watchet and were looked after much better than at many of the bigger festivals.

“We’re really pleased with how everything went – it’s all incredibly positive.”

Picture special in the Free Press