Meet the St Osyth man behind the village's summer festival

The Arts Trust, the producers of King’s Cross Summer Sounds, have announced a major new festival taking place at St Osyth Priory over two days on August 30-31. 

The festival is being run by Martin Collins, chief executive at Arts Trust Productions.

Martin, 42, is a third generation St Osyth man and said his journey to becoming an arts director started when he was doing dance at a Colchester Sixth Form theatre class.

He then applied to be part of a Suffolk dance company which influenced his choice to train at the Laban Dance School in London.

Founder - Martin Collins is an award-winning producer and founder of the Arts Trust (Image: The Arts Trust)Martin then worked as a dancer and in dance education, with his career in festivals starting from his time being a dancer and then producer at the Greenwich World Culture Festival.

That “snowballed” into him now running the two-week King’s Cross Music Festival and a programme of festivals across Greenwich.

He said: “After we established that model, I thought we should be going back to my hometown of St Osyth to see if we can do that here.

“We know we can do it. We have proved it”.

West End - Daniel Boys currently stars as King George III in Hamilton in the West End (Image: Ruth Crafer Photography)

The festival will include folk music on both days as well as ceilidhs.

There will be a two-hour concert by double Mobo award-winning saxophonist YolanDa Brown, who “grabs the audience and just doesn’t let go”.

Saxophone - YolanDa Brown (Image: YolanDa Brown) Daniel Boys, who currently stars as King George III in Hamilton in the West End will also be appearing, and there will be giant puppets walking around the site.

Food will also be a key part in the festival.

There will be cookery demonstrations, with fire pits and a fire stage to give barbecue demonstrations.

Martin said: “What we find is the food element just really brings people together, it allows people to have conversations around food and lifestyles.

“We know that classic thing around Sunday lunches where all the family comes together. So, it's the same sort of situation, but here they can do that and then come and see a music festival at the same time.”

Historic - St Osyth Priory (Image: Lottie Photography)

Fun - Summer In The Park took place at the priory last year (Image: Roswitha Chesher) The festival will be “hyper focused on families” with lower-cost tickets for children and free entry for children under five.

Martin added: “We are getting to do a two-day festival, and this is just the start.

“If we get sponsors, we could reduce the cost and increase the content.

"We are bringing world-class artists down to my hometown in the most beautiful landscape of the priory and its 350 acres.

“I am so proud and I just wish my mother was alive to see it.”