Here Comes The Sun 2016

The Rising Sun’s annual festival is back for its seventh year!

This one-day extravaganza of music, dance, comedy, poetry and art is the centre’s biggest event of the year, showcasing an eclectic line-up of performances and raising vital funds to help maintain our beautiful Grade II listed building.  The tall, imposing former temperance house is the perfect setting for an event that has the ambience of a small festival with the homely feel of a very large house party. 

Here Comes The Sun will run from 11am to 11pm across three stages in the main hall (Sun Stage), the upstairs lounge (Sky Stage) and the back garden (Tree Stage).

All the acts have been announced and the stage times can be found here.

Each year the festival highlights some of the best music, poetry, comedy and art from around Reading and further afield, and 2016 is no exception.

On the music side of things, we have heavy riff riders Area 52, the pop-fizzin’ Big Zero, local heroes Ben Marwood and Pete Hefferan, country porch folk duo The August List, the inspirational Julia Titus, dynamic electric cellist Jo Quail, the mellifluous voice of Ever Hazel, electro-rockers Forget Gravity, the psychedelic Ovvls, the tune-mongous Buildings On Fire, the singer-songwriterly skills of Jodie O’Callaghan, Kat Sinclair and Matt Stockl, harmonious duo Ciircus Street, the soul-tastic Miranda & The Kool Notes, chill-out grooves from The Colossal Perverts Of Jazz, and new projects from familiar festival faces with performances from Ubik and Jonathan Amphlett & The Home Counties Band.

If poetry is more your thing, you’re in luck – we’ll have performances from stalwart poets John Hoggett and Susan Utting.  We’ll also have comedy from the laughalicious Rhodders & Lucas Jolson and a new sketch from the hilarious Zap Comedy team.  If all that wasn't enough, we'll also have the juicy djembe sounds of Hands Of Rhythm, the clogtastic Aldbrickham Clog Dancers and a display from Cobra Capoeira – a first for Here Comes The Sun!

Children will be fully entertained, too – as well as face-painting and an array of fun activities and games to play, we’ll also see a return of the interactive exploration into the songs of the Wild West, Tales From The Trails.

Not only that, but the play-it piano will also be back this year, and we’ll also be graced by an appearance from Bob, our very own Flint Giant!

In the evening, the Tree Stage transforms into the Outdoor Cinema, showing short films.  If you have a short film you would like us to show, please contact Ross Hale at rossjhale@hotmail.com.

If you can't wait for this year's festival, here are some photos from last year’s festival to keep you going!