Our Story
The Mighty Boof was born out of the frustration of our local music scene (or lack of!). So in the summer or 2007 we decided to stop complaining and do something about it! And so The Mighty Boof was born...
We started with a bang in 2007 with the likes of We Are Scientists and Little Man Tate in the Civic Hall as well as our own Club Boof in Gallaghers GL3 which showcased a wide selection of local and national bands! In 2008 we saw the likes of The Zutons, The Twang, Johnny Foreigner and The Futureheads as well as the progression and growth of our own Club Boof!
2009 saw the Boof expand significantly branching out to Carlisle with The Sunshine Underground and Bez. 2009 was also the year Boof was introduced in to the festival scene as we hosted Tent 42 at CockRock Festival and the We Are Calling stage at Kendal Calling as well as hosting 3 all dayers! Beckfest was launched in 2010 featuring 30 Acts over 2 days. We ran the CFM stage at the Whitehaven Festival and played a big part in Cockrock including hosting The Big Boof Boutique (Dance Tent) with The King Blues, Newcleus Roots, Kid British, Sound Of Gun's, Detriot Social Club, Mickey P Kerr, Chris Helm and Sham 69.
Following the success of our festival presence in 2010 we continued this over in to 2011 hosting Beckfest with even more acts! The Whitehaven Festival asked us to take over their main stage on the Sunday to put our Boof spin on the festival. We brought Razorlight to the line up which is one of the biggest bands Whitehaven has hosted! With all of this in mind and our festival presence around the county we decided this was the year for our own festival, Mighty Boof At The Playground. Starting as an all day event with The Futureheads headlining this was our most successful venture so far! Following in 2012 with The Pigeon Detectives, Sound of Guns, Simon and Oscar from Ocean Colour Scene, Twisted Wheel and The Lottery Winners spread over 2 days with a large range of local and national talent in 4 tents! 2013 saw Mighty Boof at The Playground continue to be huge success with the likes of The View, The Enemy, Sound of Guns, The Farm, The 10:04's, The Book Club and many many more.
Towards the end of 2013 we unfortunately lost our main venue Whitehaven Civic Hall to the budget cuts by our local council but not without a fight. We held the Civic Halls last ever gig: Sound of Guns with support from Twisted Wheel and The 45's which really showed how great a venue it really was and we are still fighting for it to be re-opened!
2014 saw the relocation to a weather proof site of our At The Playground festival, now named At The Stadium Festival. Not only this but we also added a whole extra day! This saw the likes of Reverend & The Makers, Goldie Lookin Chain, Space, John Power, Twisted Wheel, The Sunshine Underground, Dexters, Andrew Metcalfe, The 45's, The Family Rain, The Tapestry and a whole load more over 3 days made this weekend our best yet. With Oasish closing the weekend as a tribute to the 20th anniversary of Definitely Maybe by Oasis.
In 2015 we finally got a roof over our heads at the Old Fire Station in Carlisle which saw us bring bands Inspiral Carpets, Blossoms, The View, King King, The Sherlocks, Wild Beasts to name a few to the counties newest arts venue. Unfortunately in December 2015 the Old Fire Station was victim to the devestating flooding in Carlisle and saw its doors close.
2016 was a big year for us and saw us do our biggest festival yet - Milecastle 66 in Bitts Park, Carlisle.
Feeder, The Enemy, Reverend and the Makers and The Pigeon Detectives to name a few absolutely smashed it and a great weekend was had by all.
By September 2016 the Old Fire Station was ready to reopen its doors and we brought acts including Black Grape and Milburn to give the welcome back it deserved.
After a great year and a great run of events over the previous 10 years, a few of the people from the Boof decided it was time to get a real roof over their heads and went on to open The Yellow Earl in 2017 and the Boof as we knew it went in to hiatus...
Until...
2020 - Covid hit. A devastating blow to everyone but especially those working in events and hospitality. Events were cancelled, pubs were shut and social distancing saw everyone staying at home. A group of people took this and wondered how we could bring people together, whilst being apart and decided to create their own radio station featuring local DJs doing their own weekly shows on air.
St Bees Community Radio was born.
Many of our early days Boof DJs dusted off their decks and vinyls and took to the air, and the Mighty Boof Radio Show took off every Friday playing songs from a lot of the artists we had once brought to Whitehaven and Cumbria in the past.
From this, an idea.
For 2 years, festivals had been cancelled and everyone was itching to get out and get together. Should we...?
We pondered.
The Boof Festival was created, in little less than 2 weeks we had put together the party of the summer for 2021. Restrictions were still in place but we were hopeful, we could see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Tickets sold out in 9 minutes! A new Boof record.
All social distancing restrictions were lifted for live outdoor events 3 weeks previous, just in time! And after the late cancellation of Kendal Calling in 2021, everyone was raring to go to their first festival since 2019 and we had one of our best weekends. With The Sherlocks, Kyle Falconer, The Snuts, The Pigeon Detectives and a whole range of local artists The Boof 2021 will definitely be one to remember.
The Boof is back... watch this space!
