Stainsby Festival - 17th-19th July 2026
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=== What sort of festival is Stainsby? Stainsby is a live music festival featuring mainly folk and world music. There is no recorded music. The festival is held under canvas in a series of large marquees on a rural greenfield site with views out to the National Trust's Hardwick Hall. It's great for families 'cos we've got lots of children's entertainment throughout the weekend.The festival tries to be green and sustainable and the site returns to pasture after the festival. Oh... and we try and have fun. === Who runs it and why? Many festivals are run by large corporate companies to make themselves a fat profit. We aren't! The red //**Guaranteed Volunteer Run 100% not-for-profit// stamp on the left is a bit of a clue. Started in the 1960s (the year **before** Glastonbury), the festival is run entirely by unpaid volunteers, winning the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service in 2022. It's a registered charity and a not for profit organisation, . All proceeds go back into the music. Why? I guess we must like it that way! (We're just ageing Hippies at heart, poor dears!) === Where's the camping? Camping is on site and available for weekend ticket holders **only** on Friday and Saturday nights. There are toilets and a fresh water supply to all parts of the site. Cars are not allowed onto the camping area owing to limited space but we **try** to run a land rover service for those wanting assistance to and from the car park. === Fancy a Wheelborrow? There are also plenty of wheelbarrows for you to borrow to hump stuff up and down the site. Please bring our wheelborrows back afterwards. === How much does it cost? Camping is free for weekend ticket holders on Friday and Saturday nights. Although you can stay over on Sunday night after the festival closes, we'd rather you didn't, pretty please. It makes our take down easier and faster if you don't and we need to get our volunteers back to the day job as soon as we can. If you do stay, facilities will be extremely limited (because we'll be dismantling them!) and you MUST be off site by 10am on Monday Morning. === What about Camp Fires and BBQs? Camp fires are not allowed (they ruin the pasture). Small BBQs are fine provided they're up off the ground and you have water handy.\\ === Can I bring my Caravan to the Festival? Unfortunately our site is very small and crowded and we don't have room for caravans. Sorry! But see [[https://www.teversal-campsite.com/| Teversal Camping and Caravanning]] for a superb caravan site next to Silverhill Country Park. Full facilities and lots of capacity. Distance to festival 3 miles. Or how about [[http://www.caravanclub.co.uk/caravanclubapps/applications/uk-caravan-sites-and-parks/SiteDetails.aspx?csid=21960/|Poolsbrook Caravan Park]], sited in the stunning redeveloped Poolsbrook Country Park: lakes, walks, latest facilities, and also lots of capacity only one junction up the motorway at J29A. Distance to Festival 7 miles === What about Campervans? Because we can't take caravans we've been asked a lot about campervans and motorhomes. When it's someone's main means of transport, it gets a bit tricky and we obviously don't want anyone to miss out on the festival, so we don't //encourage// people to use them but we do allow them in the car park. (But **ONLY under 7 metres**). If you do bring one remember that there aren't any facilities in the car park and you **MUSN'T** put tents up next to them or you could get us closed down by Environmental Health (Tents + moving cars + cow shit = extremely naughty + no licence). So if you absolutely have to bring your motorhome under 7 metres - in the car park please - but remember tents there are a no-no. === Is there anywhere else to stay? There are local hotels, B&Bs and self catering within easy reach like [[http://www.twinoakshotel.co.uk/|Twin Oaks Hotel at J29]], or [[https://theshoulderathardstoft.com/rooms/|The Shoulder at Hardstoft]] and [[https://www.airbnb.co.uk/doe-lea-united-kingdom/stays|Local Airbnbs]] The choice is yours! === Are there any shops and things in Stainsby? There are no facilities in Stainsby village apart from a rather attractive Victorian post-box emptied every weekday at 9 o'clock by a nice man from Royal Mail. This means the nearest shops (and anything else really) are over two miles away. So bring your own supplies or visit our various catering establishments. See "Is there anywhere to eat?" below. === Is there anywhere to park? There is a large car park next to the site. There's a five pound carbon tax charge for using it (more if you want!) - but you can come and go as often as you like during the weekend. The car park charge contributes towards the cost of setting it up (that roadway doesn't come cheap!) and allows us to run the FREE Stainsby Flyer festival bus to and from Chesterfield for every session so you're helping us get greener. === Is there a bar? Too right there is! The Hat Block is a real ale bar, featuring a special Stainsby Festival brew, "Trale Blazer" as well as a dozen other craft beers, all sourced from local (and we mean very local) microbreweries! There'll also be the usual lagers, wines, spirits and soft drinks for those who can't stand the stuff. And for those *special* tastes, we have a range of craft ciders and perrys. The Hat Block is open throughout the festival until midnight Friday and Saturday and until 10pm on Sunday. === Is there anywhere to eat? There are several catering concessions serving a variety of hot food throughout the day and evening. In the past this has featured everything from burgers to empanadas and jacket potatoes to wood fired pizzas including vegetarian options - and for the caffeine addicts a mobile espresso bar! === What about Children? There are lots of events for children throughout the weekend.\\ === How much will the kids cost me? Apart from the obvious answer - which is 20 years of your life - Children under 12 are free accompanied by a responsible adult. Children 12 to 17 are at a special reduced youth ticket price both for sessions and for the full weekend. 16 and 17 year olds will be pleased that they don't have to pay the full rate (although the downside of course is that they won't get served in the bar). We're planning to cater more for this age group now and in the future. After all they are the next generation of musicians! === What About Accessibility? We know access information is at the heart of a many people’s planning before coming to a festival, so we’re detailing what we offer here:\\\\ We offer **free personal assistant tickets for carers**. Details of how this works are on our ticketing system **[[https://buytickets.at/stainsbyfestival1/1921397|right here]].\\ Stainsby is a weekend camping festival on a very contained site across three fields that in places have considerable slopes. From the main entrance to the far edge of the festival is about 250 metres.The main concert tent is 120metres from the main gate and has a blue badge holder drop-off point. The furthest walk from the car park to the main gate is around 175 metres. From the main entrance to the far edge of the festival is about 250 metres. A Taxi drop-off point is accessible via the main entrance.\\\\The main concert tent is 120 metres from the main gate and has a blue badge holder drop-off point.The furthest walk from the car park to the main gate is around 175 metres. The camping field isn't far from the main gate and drop-off points allow access to within 50m for blue badge holders. Please let our volunteers at the gate know if you need to use them. We provide accessible toilets on the main site: two in each of the two main camping spaces and one in the main festival arena. We keep an extra eye out to make sure they're maintained to a good standard and they're regularly checked by volunteers throughout the festival. If you find any problems, please do let one of our volunteers know. Charging points for electric wheelchair batteries and other access equipment can be found at The Information Tent, which is staffed between 8am and 10pm. Our light show for the main stage band at the end of each evening involves flashing lights and swiftly changing light patterns but **we don't use strobe lighting** at any time. If you have any specific questions, suggestions or ideas then please email us at **info@stainsbyfestival.org.uk**. You can also give feedback to our volunteers at the information tent during the festival. === Can I bring my dog? Unlike many festivals, dogs are welcome at Stainsby but you've got to follow three simple rules: #They must be on a lead at all times #They are not allowed in the main concert venues #You have to scoop the poop === Are there Session Tickets? Sure are. If you can't make the whole weekend or want to see a particular act then there are separate sessions on Friday Evening, Saturday Afternoon, Saturday Evening and All Day Sunday. === What are the Session Times? Friday Evening is 6pm to midnight. Saturday Afternoon session is from Noon to 6pm (admission from 10am) and the Evening one from 6pm to midnight. Sunday is midday to midnight. Funnily enough they match the times of the Stainsby Flyer to and from Chesterfield. Strange old world, eh? === How do I buy tickets? You can buy directly online 24/7 until the festival starts: use your credit or debit card to buy tickets straight from this site via our secure ticketing system. Just click on [[https://buytickets.at/stainsbyfestival1/1921397|booking]] and bingo you've got your own personal shopping cart. Simples! ====== Note: There is a booking fee for this service to cover the charges we have to pay to our provider. There's no fee if you buy by post and pay by cheque. ===== === Can I buy in person or by post? Easy peasy! - You can buy them in person from **PrintShack, 39 St Mary's Gate, Chesterfield, S41 7TH** until the week before the festival. Or just download the form on the booking page and send us a cheque in the post to the same address with a stamped addressed envelope. (If you've hit a problem like the printer's gone on strike or the dog's eaten it along with your eldest's homework, then in an emergency you can just write in with an SAE and tell us what you want!). Alternatively, you can pay by cash or card on the gate (assuming we've not sold out already!). ====== Note: We can't accept cheques on the gate because the cheque guarantee card scheme was abolished in 2011. Of course you can always pay by more traditional methods, like cash, (and avoid the booking fee) though we should make it clear that if you intend to barter, we don't accept goats and the chicken/pound exchange rate is very poor at the moment. Gold bars on the other hand will get you a good deal. === Now - How do I get there? Full details on the [[http://www.stainsbyfestival.org.uk/travel.shtml|Travel]] page, including full details of The Stainsby Flyer, the FREE festival bus service from Chesterfield railway station. === Facebook More chat and discussion on our Facebook page - Check in and check it out [[https://www.facebook.com/groups/5110505390/about/|here]] === A Heartfelt Plea About Gazebos Camping space is very limited at Stainsby and everyone has to be very nice to each other since you can't turn round without sticking your bum through someone else's guy ropes. So please - NO GAZEBOS - there's shed loads of space to stretch out in the festival arena. Leave the camping area free for tents, 'cos we need all the space we can get. And we're not in the business of being the Gazebo Police, we want to enjoy ourselves too. So just don't bring 'em, eh? Thanks. ** Performers looking for Gigs**\\ Because we're entirely volunteer run, we've all got day jobs to keep body and soul together, not to mention feeding the kids (Doh! - we've mentioned it!), so the volume of emails asking for gigs is far too large for us to deal with. If you have sent one, don't expect a response. It's nothing personal - there just aren't enough hours in the day. We'll only be in touch if there's the chance of a gig.