Chiswick's answer to Glastonbury brings in the crowds despite the wet weather

The sun shone through what had been a curtain of rain just as the music started at the sixth groveSTOCK Music Festival on Saturday.

With the sun came the crowd. Almost 800 people were treated to eight hours of great music in the tree-ringed garden at St Paul's, Grove Park.

There were some great sets from the 11 performers on the main stage. Tempest State, Taxi Joe, Static Plan, Bill Davro, Tender Objects and Learn to Swim played brilliantly and showcased many of their own songs.

The headline act, west London rockers, Fat Chance Band, didn't disappoint with some rock-and-roll classics, stamped with their own unique style.

There was also some swing from Harry Dolan, Mad About Gospel rhythms, Soraya's Zumba, a Roko tug-of-war and some 'hair raising' style from the Chiswick Salon.

At the helm was Maria Kempinska, the founder of Jongleurs, and comedian Mickey Hutton. Both did a magnificent job holding it all together.

The highly anticipated groveFACTOR competition was kicked off by last year's winners performing under the new name of PFL.

Storm came out on top winning the groveSTOCK cup and the best band prizes in the groveFACTOR competition. The five boys from Hampton School have been invited back to perform next year.

Other groveFACTOR winners, who shared the £200 prize fund, were:
Most Talent Musician - Sophie Simonds (15)
Most Promising Musicians - Sam Herbert (10) and Zain Sayed Kumar (10) for their piano and guitar duet
Most Talented Singer - Aaron da Costa (12)
Most Entertaining Singer - Jonathan Ajayi (15) of the band Addicted to Pineapple from Chiswick Community School.

Event organiser Rachel Tanner said, "groveFACTOR once again produced some amazing performances".

To round the day off there was a spectacular fireworks display. groveSTOCK once again managed to bring people of all ages together and raise money for St Paul's charities including a community sound and light system. MP Mary Macleod tweeted after the event that groveSTOCK was 'Grove Park's answer to Glastonbury'. Roll on next year.

June 20, 2011