The final Linton Festival took place at the end of the garden of the Alma Inn in Linton, Herefordshire. The festival first took place 25 years ago and there have been 23 festivals since then (two where lost due to COVID).
From what was an idea for local bands to perform close to home, the idea has blossomed to now hosting world class artists, and has raised over £150,000 for local charities. The chair Dave Lambert (in the program notes) thanked Nick Jones & Chris Goulding for providing the land the festival operates in including the camping area, as well as the local community for accepting its annual presence. Over the years the festival has hosted internationally renowned artists such as Ruby Turner, Suzi Quatro, Wilko Johnson, Walter Trout and many more.
For the final festival in 2026 a wide range of artists had been booked including Burning Rope, Thomas Atlas, Chantel McGregor, Aynsley Lister, King King, Alastair Greene and Beaux Gris Gris & The Apocalypse.
The final day of the festival on Sunday 21st June 2026 (also Father’s Day in the UK) was a very hot day both with the temperatures and the bands performing on stage.
The day opened with a local band The Bawnkesmire Collected which included Linton Festival’s Director of Music Mike Bertenshaw. Mike played at the first and third festivals in 2001 & 2003. He was joined by his son Adam on guitar, Eric Justice (aka American Eric) on bass and vocals, Ray Whittaker on keys and Jack Marley on drums.
Their set included ‘Come Together’ from The Beatles, ‘How Long’ by Ace, The Joker by Steve Miller Band, and a couple of travel and transport related songs with ‘The Road to Hell’ by Chris Rea and the impassioned blast of ‘Highway to Hell’ by AC/DC to finish.
Then we had a full 75-minute set from Welsh guitar wizard James Oliver (Cardiff) with his band of Mark Kemlo (drums) and Norman Watt Roy (bass) who is still performing to a high standard, from his time with Ian Dury & The Blockheads and Wilko Johnson.
The set kicked off with ‘Tear It Up’ with James’s usual wild expressions and brilliant guitar work and vocals and plenty of banter between songs. This was followed by Dr. Feelgood’s ‘She Does It Right’ played lightning fast as usual.
The set also included ‘Mean Little Mama’, Who Do You Love’, ‘King Bee’ and another Dr. Feelgood song with ‘Roxette’.
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After a reset we next had Alastair Greene over from Austin, Texas, USA (guitar & vocals) with his English band of Mike Hellier (drums) and James Whitaker (bass & backing vocals).
His full set included great guitar work and vocals on songs such as ‘Back to Avalon’, ‘Say What You Want’, ‘Walking Blues’ by Son House & Robert Johnson, ‘Living Today’ a new song with ‘Drink Again’ about having too many drinks and ‘Cut You Loose’.
Then the highlight of the day for many was Beaux Gris Gris & The Apocalypse led by Louisiana born Greta Velenti (vocals) and Englishman Robin Davey (guitar and vocals). They are both now based in California and are partners in the band and life. They were joined by first timers Phil Wilson (drums) & Russ Munroe (sax & keys) as well as Charlie Kay (bass) and Jack Herbert (keys).
They gave an electrifying set of their New Orleans inspired, American (with a British twist) blues & soul.
The set included great vocals from Greta backed by Robin supported with solo sections for many of the band underpinned with the powerful drumming of Phil Wilson and bass from Charlie Kay. Russ Munroe switched between sax and keys and also had keys duets with Jack Herbert.
The songs included ‘Gris Gris’ with the band and audience joining in on the refrain, ‘Runaway’, ‘What‘s My Name‘, the new single ‘Me Ye, Ye, Yow’, ‘Wild Wild Woman with Greta starting on the stage and then singing while walking through the audience on their hay bales and then going up in a telehandler over the stage to continue the vocals! They finished their set with ‘’The Best Is Yet to Come’ and ‘Let It Know’
The final blues-based artist of the day was boogie woogie playing Mike Sanchez and his band featuring ‘Get Your Kicks From Route 66’ and ‘I Don’t Stand a Chance’. Mike had played at one of the earlier festivals and enjoyed his return with his great keyboard playing.
The day, and the final festival finished with Magic of Motown with lots of dancing as the sun went down.