The next Festival on the Field will be Saturday 4th July 2026
About
Festival on the Field is a volunteer-run fund-raising event, organised by the parents’ organisations of Sir John Lawes School and Manland Primary School in Harpenden. The schools have a long history together and are adjacent to each other. The festival runs every other year and to date, has raised over £120,000 for both schools.
In its first year (2012), the festival won the Gold Star Award for Fundraising Achievement in the South of England, and then went on to become the overall winner for the UK in this category. In 2014 it was shortlisted for the prestigious UK Festival Awards under the categories of best small festival and best family festival.
Held in the Olympics year, 2012, a group of pioneering parents with some background in running large events took quite a risk to stage the first Festival on the Field. They needn't have worried - it turned out to be a huge success and made a great profit for the two schools.
Having won an award and raised a good amount of money in 2012, the second Festival on the Field was staged in 2014. We were getting into our stride and upped our game with better acts and amenities. Another great fundraising success and great family day out.
2016 attracted even more people to what was now becoming a landmark event in Harpenden. Superb tribute acts headlined by Killer Queen entertained a relaxed and energetic audience - and an impressive fairground kept the younger members of the audience amused between the acts.
2018, was the best so far. Not only did we have almost 3,000 people attending, we had a bigger stage, super acts, great food and drink AND England winning a World Cup match on the Big Screen!
The screen was added last year for the headline act, the Karaoke phenomenon, Massaoke. Now much in demand this live-band-crowd-singalong ended the night on a real high - returned for the next Festival on the Field.
Despite being delayed for two years, due to COVID, the 2022 event did not disappoint.
With a great range of food and drink concessions, a wide range of fairground attractions and childcare from Fizzbug, it was a family event for all ages.
Performances saw a return from Massaoke, JK as Robbie Williams, 24K Bruno and a new local band Stratton 5.
Festival on the Field 2024 was another sell-out success, with Taylor Swift, Harry Styles, ABBA, Robbie Williams and Bruno Mars tributes acts taking the crowd by storm.
Massaoke returned to close the festival, after a nail-biting Euros 24 quarter final was beamed live on the big screen to festival-goers, which saw England move to the semi-final stages after penalties.
Festival on the Field returns on Saturday 4th July 2026.
