READING: The Rising Sun Arts Centre

Saturday 6th August, 2022

2:00pm

Event information

After an absence over the last two years, Reading’s biggest summer house party is back for 2022!

Here Comes The Sun is a one-day festival of music and arts that sees the whole of the Rising Sun Arts Centre transformed into a vibrant celebration of all the things the Centre and its volunteers hold dear. Bunting, fake grass, lots of colour and a glorious programme of arts all over the building!

This year is going to have to be a little different, but there will still be lots of live entertainment outside, wonderful live music in the main room and – for the first time – the upstairs will be an explosion of visual arts. Plus plenty of the food, drink and kids activities you’ve come to expect from Here Comes The Sun!

As always, Here Comes The Sun is our biggest fundraising event of the year – and you know that all the money from the festival will be going back into the Centre so we can continue to offer a creative haven for artists, audiences and groups of all shapes and sizes.

We’re still working on the programme so do check back as and when we’re ready to announce just who and what you can expect to see on the day – and night!

THE LINE UP SO FAR

The first acts to be announced this year include new names and familiar faces. Reading’s homegrown soul and Motown covers crew The Mark II will bring the party to the main room – aka the Sun Stage! They’ll be joined by alt-rock four-piece Elucidate, the “psychedelic rage” of DR SATSO, and a returning Grae J. Wall & Los Chicos Muertos, who blend country, folk, chanson and skiffle! We’ll also see new project performances from festival favourites – Lee Switzer-Woolf (Launch Control, Seasons In Shorthand) bringing his new take on folktronica, and electronic tinged alt-rock from Dakorra, the new project from Ocean Ruins singer Kate Herridge.

The second wave of artists and artistes includes some of the creative communities and groups that call the centre home: quickfire poetry from the Dreading Poetry Slam poets, a Rising Sun Drag Showcase led by the centre’s own Big Jay, The Zap! Comedy Team – for people with learning disabilities – with another hilarious comedy sketch, and Zap! alumnus Cameron Chung will also sing a few songs. Plus, the centre’s Visual Arts Team will present a unique installation in the renamed-for-2022 Sky Studio.

But it’s not only our in-house entertainers who’ll be performing for you – we’ve got some more fantastic names to share who’ll all be performing on the Tree Stage. There’ll be “intricate melodies and complex chord structures” from folk artist Jamie Larbalestier, soulful vocals from a returning Jen Berkova and a special stripped-back acoustic set from the atmospheric Phantom Booth.

PLUS! Two more wonderful acts have joined the line-up, each one offering a special two-person performance - there's Jopy ("making very loud and fun noises on guitar") and some steel pan sunshine courtesy of players from RASPO (Reading All Steel Percussion Orchestra).