Oxford based charity, Oxfam, celebrated its 70th birthday by holding a musical festival in the city last Saturday.
A ‘musical takeover’ was held in four different venues across Oxford, with over 30 different bands from Oxfordshire taking part.
The festival, headlined by five-piece band Fixers, staged live music in locations as varied as The Purple Turtle, Turl Street Kitchen, The Cellar and Modern Art Oxford, culminating in an after party at the Blue Rinse club night in Turl Street Kitchen.
A spokesperson for Modern Art Oxford, the venue for Fixers, said: “The Oxjam event on Saturday went well, and we feel that as an arts organisation in Oxford, it’s important to support local events.
“Modern Art Oxford has been a live music venue for a couple of years and we host a variety of gigs, live performance and film.”
Ticket holders were treated to music from a range of genres, including rock, metal, folk and acoustic bands.
Kevin Duggan, lead singer for the local folk/indie band Empty White Circles, said following their gig at the Turl Street Kitchen: “We really enjoyed playing the event. For us it was a great way to do what we love and help benefit the charity.
“Throughout the event the venues we went into were filled with people who seemed energetic about the great bands that were playing. We were really happy to feel part of that community and to see success in raising money for Oxjam.”
Timothy Goose, of the acoustic band We Are Goose, explained the group’s reasons for participating: “Oxford has a great music scene, but there are very few events like this – where everyone gets together to put on a really exciting experience for an amazing cause.”
He added that a main reason for playing in Oxford is the “great environment” and “lovely audiences”.
The event marked the conclusion of a series of Oxjam events in the city, which have included a takeover in G&D’s, and a roof top gig at the Said business school.
Oxjam events will be taking place in 33 locations across Britain during the month of October as part of the month long annual festival. Since the introduction of the Takeover season in 2006, Oxjam events have raised £1.5 million, helped by the contribution of local volunteers and sponsors.
Organiser’s of the Oxford Oxjam event aimed to raise £6,000 for the charity. Since 2006, 40,000 musicians have participated in Oxjam events, which have been attended by 800,000 people across Britain.
PHOTO/ http://www.oxfam.org.uk/oxjam
