Tramlines 2021: Musicians 'overwhelmed' as festival returns

Tens of thousands of music fans attended the three-day festival held in Sheffield over the weekend

Musicians and organisers have heralded the return of Sheffield's Tramlines festival, with one band describing it as "the most important show we've ever played".

The three-day event at Hillsborough Park went ahead as part of the government's Events Research Programme with a capacity crowd of 40,000 people.

Organiser Timm Cleasby said it had been an "incredible" weekend.

Last year's festival was cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Organisers described the atmosphere as incredible

Many of the artists who appeared were performing for the first time in more than 18 months.

Tom Walker, who won the 2019 Brit award for best British breakthrough act, said: "People deserve to be in a field, listening to some music, drinking ciders, having a great time because it's been so long since people have been able to do that."

The Leave The Light On singer added: "Live music is just such a release of tension for everybody."

Rapper Dizzie Rascal, who performed on Sunday, wrote on Twitter: "First show we've done since 2019 and one to remember. Large up everyone who came to watch."

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Many of the acts also praised the response they received from fans

Meanwhile, The Pigeon Detectives, from Leeds, said it was "the most important show we've ever played" and Circa Waves said they had been "overwhelmed" by the response.

Permission for the festival to go-ahead as a test event was granted in June.

Mr Cleasby said: "It's been a proper rollercoaster to get here, but seeing everyone at the park happy, smiling and just loving life with their friends again - it's been just incredible.

"To put it into perspective, we got the go-ahead five weeks ago - so it's been quite an effort from all the team to pull it together.

"We'd got no idea if we could actually do this, [but] I'm in awe of them all because they've really done it for us in Sheffield."

He said he hoped the success of the event, which required attendees to show a negative test result or be double-jabbed, would provide a much-needed boost for the industry and pave the way for a return to "a bit more normality".

The festival was part of a series of government test events

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