Long Division festival has announced ‘LD:TV’ – a collection of new and live digital content from artists including Billy Bragg, The Wedding Present & The Lovely Eggs set to take place over the festival’s original date in June.
Originally due to take place from the 4th – 7th June in venues across Wakefield, the festival made the difficult decision in March of this year to postpone the event until November 2020 with almost all artists ready to perform on the new date providing it is safe to go ahead.
Not wanting to let June and their 10th birthday pass without a celebration, festival founder Dean Freeman decided to launch ‘LD:TV’ and set about creating a raft of new content with the festival’s various partners and organisers.
LD:TV will be built around two main blocks of programming (Running between 90-120 minutes) on Saturday 6th of June. The first of these will run in the day and focus on music industry panels, masterclasses, education and outreach and feature the AIF, Music: Leeds, Backstage Academy, Yorkshire Music Forum, esteemed music journalists Charlotte Gunn & John Robb, Leeds College of Music and many more.
The evening will see the main block of content featuring beloved previous guests of Long Division including Billy Bragg, The Lovely Eggs, The Wedding Present, Pictish Trail, Hands Off Gretel, Emma Pollock, Mi Mye, Dead Naked Hippies and many more for a two hour celebration of the festival and its history featuring new and live performances from the artists and hosted by Freeman.
As with everything Long Division does, keeping arts in Wakefield accessible is at its heart meaning LD:TV will be free to access for all, though viewers and supporters are encouraged to donate. Funds raised from the first program will go to Help Musicians while those raised from the second will be split between #WakefieldCares and payment for all contributing artists.
Alongside the two main programs, LD:TV will host several other events over the weekend including a premiere of local DIY heroes ‘Knuckle’s triumphant concert film alongside DJ sets, live streams, interviews and more.
For more details and how to view LD:TV please head to http://longdivisionfestival.co.uk/ldtv
Long Division Director Dean Freeman:
“This temporary normal of not seeing friends and family, of no live music or socialising has been tough for lots of people. And though we’re excited for what November will bring, I couldn’t let June pass without some excitement. I put out a few tentative emails to our many friends from over the years and was really chuffed to have so many positive responses. The idea behind the shows is not to overwhelm people with endless live streams, but almost present a ‘best-of’ Long Division, but with brand new, specially recorded songs and chats. The day time more industry focused section will also be really useful to those in our community wondering what is next for live music. Make a brew, grab a beer and get a taste of those festival vibes ahead of November in Wakefield.”
