Oh to be in England now that ValeFest's here...

Driving across the Vale this evening, shades of green as far as the eye can see, blousy great grey-pink clouds absorbing the last of the light and blooming hawthorn bushes dressing the roads like cheerleader's pom poms. All of it so breathtakingly beautiful that I thanked whatever forces brought me to this quite beautiful place.
The Vale of Belvoir has to be one of the East Midlands' best kept secrets, so secret in fact that many of the people in nearby Melton Mowbray and Grantham don't appear to know of its existence. And unfortunately I've been working daft hours so haven't had much chance to get out and see as much of it as I'd like.
ValeFest is putting musicians forward to play at the Hot Pots ceramics & cookery event at the end of May, the CLA Game Fair in July, and now several other events are asking us to help identify suitable performers for their events over the summer. In fact some of our artists appeared at Dove Cottage Hospice Summer Fete this past weekend, to delighted reviews and feedback.
We've also put venue managers and other festival organisers, like Sally Fagan at Stathern Festival and David Wilson at The Plough in the same village, in touch with a variety of acts.
It's good to be able to highlight performance and promotional opportunities for our local musical talent and to know that ValeFest is already making a positive impact in our community.
Very soon we'll be releasing information about ValeFest's own summer festival season, which is hoped will widen appreciation of the glories of the Vale of Belvoir, assist tourism and the local economy and encourage more people to come and enjoy this truly wonderful, incredibly beautiful part of England.