LeeFest is a non-profit music festival that takes place every August in Bromley South London. The festival began in founder Lee Denny's garden when his parents went away on holiday in 2006. Despite the festival's small scale in its first two years, LeeFest has now become a 2000 capacity two-day event.

History

2006

LeeFest began in 2006. The festival took place in teenager Lee Denny's back garden on August 31 in Beckenham

Beckenham

Beckenham is a town in the London Borough of Bromley, England. It is located 8.4 miles south east of Charing Cross and 1.75 miles west of Bromley town...

, Kent

Kent

Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...

.

2007-2009

The following year LeeFest returned to Lee's garden with two stages (one canopy stage and one acoustic tent). 300 people attended and over 10 bands and artists played. In 2008 the event had out grown the garden and moved to fields near Langley Park School for Boys

Langley Park School for Boys

Langley Park School for Boys is a boys' comprehensive secondary school in Beckenham in the London Borough of Bromley, with a mixed-gender sixth form...

. This site was again used to host the event on August 15, 2009, over one thousand people were present. The 4th year of the festival was the first year LeeFest represented Kids Company

Kids Company

Kids Company is a charity organisation that works with young ex-offenders and disadvantaged children through inner-city schools in London, a drop-in centre in Camberwell, and the Urban Academy in Southwark...

 as its chosen charity.

2010

In 2010 the event took place on Saturday August 14 at a new venue (Highams Hill Farm). Up to two thousand people attended the two day event. 2010 was also the first year to introduce camping to the event with 700 camping tickets sold. The line up included The Futureheads, Hot Club De Paris, Jakwob, Does it Offend You, Yeah?, The King Blues, Johnny Foreigner, Starsmith, The Loose Cannons, and Fenech Soler.

2011

The festival will take place on August 12th & 13th, 2011 at Highams Hill Farm. The Line up has begun to be announced and tickets are now on sale.

Line Ups

• 2006

Isobel, Jamo at the Disco!, Kyrill, BLT, Femme Fatale, Matt Squared, Fin & Charlie

• 2007

Dot By Miro, Jade Fox, Isobel, Atomic Face, Civilian, Park Bench Politics, Martyn Snow Band, BLT, Charlie Allen, Rich Legate, Adam Santer, Andrew Gummer

• 2008

The Skints, Linchpin, DJ Hatsey, One Way To Kanasas, Snish, Catfish Blue, SouthBound, The Over Dramatics, Mr Newells Breakfast Club, Koz + MC Mekkar, Death To Disco, Jonny Abraham, Acoustic Charlie

• 2009

The Holloways

The Holloways

The Holloways are a four-piece indie-rock band from North London.-Formation:David Jackson and Bryn Fowler established the beginnings of the band, finding Rob Skipper at a local live music venue. They would meet later to jam together, playing in future drummer Dave Danger's room...

, Saving Aimee

Saving Aimee

Saving Aimee were a British pop/rock band from Hertfordshire. The band toured extensively for four years, released three singles and an album. On 14 December 2009 the band went on an indefinite hiatus.-History:...

, The Xcerts, Sam Isaac, A1 Bassline, Kid id, Tomb Crew, Lights Go Blue, Luke Leighfield, The Skints, Starsmith, Marcel Legane, Mike Brown Band, Adelaide, Local Heroes, Astro Physics, Charles Anonymous, Death To Disco, Kojack, Richard Maddy, Silent Disguise, Mesa,

• 2010

The Futureheads

The Futureheads

The Futureheads are an English post-punk band from Sunderland. consisting of Ross Millard , Barry Hyde and David "Jaff" Craig...

, Does It Offend You, Yeah?

Does It Offend You, Yeah?

Does It Offend You, Yeah? are a British electronic rock band from Reading, Berkshire.-History:Does It Offend You, Yeah? were formed in 2006 in Reading, UK by James Rushent and Dan Coop and soon joined by Rob Bloomfield and Morgan Quaintance....

, Jakwob

Jakwob

-Career:Jakwob began making music aged 10 as a multi-instrumentalist and has been involved in many groups from his teenage years onwards, beginning in jazz but moving on to death metal and folk. His style is notable for its transcending of genres and its relative 'accessibility' given the dubstep...

, The King Blues

The King Blues

The King Blues are a punk band from London, England, credited for fusing ska and folk together with influences from punk rock and hardcore punk. Tariq Ali described the band's sounds as 'rough, radical music that should unsettle the rulers of this country. A new generation of musicians are...

, Fenech Soler

Fenech Soler

Fenech-Soler are a British electropop band from Kings Cliffe, Northamptonshire that formed in 2006. It consists of four members: Ross Duffy, Ben Duffy, Daniel Soler and Andrew Lindsay. The name Fenech-Soler is taken from Daniel Soler's full surname, which is Maltese...

, Johnny Foreigner

Johnny Foreigner

Johnny Foreigner are an indie rock trio from Birmingham, England, consisting of guitarist/lead vocalist Alexei Berrow, drummer Junior Elvis Washington Laidley and bassist Kelly Southern...

, Hot Club De Paris

Hot Club De Paris

Hot Club de Paris are an English band from Liverpool. They are signed to the London-based Moshi Moshi Records and released their debut album Drop It 'Til It Pops in October 2006...

, Marcel Legane, King Charles, Starsmith

Starsmith

Starsmith is a songwriter, producer, remixer and DJ. He studied a classical music degree at the University of Surrey majoring in performance on saxophone...

, The Loose Cannons, DJ Hatesy, Mean Poppa Lean, They Came From Japan, Richard Maddy, Chris Cape, Professor Penguin, Trashcan DJs, Bordeauxxx, Keston Cobblers Club

• 2011

Fenech Soler

Fenech Soler

Fenech-Soler are a British electropop band from Kings Cliffe, Northamptonshire that formed in 2006. It consists of four members: Ross Duffy, Ben Duffy, Daniel Soler and Andrew Lindsay. The name Fenech-Soler is taken from Daniel Soler's full surname, which is Maltese...

, Young Knives, Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly., Little Comets, King Charles, Man Like Me, To Kill A King, David's Lyre, Dutch Uncles, Ellen And The Escapades, and more to be announced.

In The Press

In the build up the event on August 15, 2009, the festival received national press coverage including features on BBC Radio 1

BBC Radio 1

BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...

, BBC 6music, London Tonight

London Tonight

London Tonight is a regional news programme broadcast on ITV London . Produced by ITN, the programme is broadcast at 6pm every weeknight, also including local sports news and local features of interest.Like all regional news programmes on ITV in England and Wales and Channel Television, it uses...

 and the Kent on Saturday.

The following article was published by the Croydon Advertiser

Croydon Advertiser

The Croydon Advertiser is a weekly newspaper covering the London Borough of Croydon, South London, and surrounding areas. It is the third-highest selling paid-for weekly paper in London...

in August 2009.

Teenagers are masters at outsmarting their parents - so when Lee Denny's told him "strictly no house parties" while they were on holiday, he organised a music festival in the back garden instead.

Lee, then 17, was used to taking the opportunity to have all his mates round for a party when mum and dad went away every year.

But when they finally put their foot down, he came up with a novel new way to make the most of an empty house, and LeeFest was born.

Now in its fourth year (and this time with full parental backing) LeeFest has snowballed into a huge charity event in a nearby field next to Langley Park Boys School.

"My parents went on holiday one year and previously we used to have lots of house parties when they went away," says Lee, now 21.

"Just before they went that year, they sat me and my friends down and gave us a strict talking to. They said no more house parties because we'd wrecked the carpets a couple of times and the neighbours had complained.

"Being young and a bit bolshy, we thought it would be ok to have a festival because it wasn't a party. We thought we'd get away with it.

"About an hour after my parents left, everyone moved into my front room and started organising the event. My house became Camp Festival."

Lee and his friends held the festival in his garden in Beckenham, with performances from bands from around the local area.

"All of the local bands and audience of 150 people were friends of ours in the first year."

Luckily Lee's parents were more impressed with their son's ingenuity than annoyed at his rule breaking.

"They were forgiving and thought it was quite funny.

"My parents were there the second year in the garden, keeping a watchful eye on it and last year they came down and did bits and pieces around the site. This year they're coming down again."

LeeFest has morphed into a bigger and bigger event each year.

"We've got a pretty small back garden so the second year it was a bit of a squash, but it was with my parents' permission and we got 350 people."

Last year they left the garden for the first time and set up camp in a field bordering the school the organisers used to go to, Langley Park Boys.

And this year Lee's expecting record numbers, with a capacity of 1,500 people.

"The main core of people who organise it have always been the same. They're Alex Brooks, David Hayes, Richard Legate, Squib Swain for the last two years, and now my little brother Andy. Most of us are good friends from school."

And LeeFest isn't just about the music - each year they've raised money for a chosen charity, with the amount steadily rising each time.

The festival is completely not for profit, with all proceeds going to the chosen charity.

In the first year they raised £250 for the Teenage Cancer Trust, the second year was £500 for Save the Children and last year they reached the £1,000 mark for Age Concern.

This year's chosen charity is the London-based Kids Company, which provides practical, emotional and educational support to vulnerable inner-city children and young people, and Lee says they're aiming to double the amount fundraised last year.

In October 2009 the festival won Best Grassroots Festival Award at the UK Festival Awards. LeeFest was also nominated for Best Small Festival and Best Toilets. The Festival has also been acknowledged with a nomination in the European Festival Awards.

In May 2010 the Guardian included LeeFest in a round-up of ten of the best small UK festivals, the article championed the festivals unpretentious party vibe and charitable nature.