getonthesoapbox is proud to once again support the Unite Acoustic Stage at MayDay Festival in Ipswich.

SUNDAY 5TH MAY
12 - 6PM
FREE ENTRY
Dogs on leads welcome

We are chuffed to be a part of this awesome community event here in our hometown. Featuring three stages of music, poetry and performance; along with stalls, food and drink, we can guarantee a great day out for the whole family.

UNITE THE UNION ACOUSTIC STAGE 2019

12:00 : Amy Wragg
Amy Wragg is poet, artist and event organiser who is best known as the woman behind getonthesoapbox. Founded in 2006, SoapBox has grown from an open mic in the back room of a pub, into the regions most prolific Festival stage producer. A passionate poetry advocate, she considers creating platforms for original musicians and poets a lifelong vocation. Amy Wragg is proud to support the Unite the Union Acoustic stage for the 2nd year running, booking all of the artists and decorating the whole area. Artwork is available to hire and buy, email for more information. amy@getonthesoapbox.co.uk

12:10 : Seasick Seagulls
The Seasick Seagulls began in a boatshed on Ipswich docks and has grown to a motley crew of boat builders, sailors, and landlubbers! We aim to preserve the tradition of the sea shanty and local maritime history whilst bringing our own style to the music.
www.facebook.com/seasickseagulls

12:40 : Sienna Potter
Based in Ipswich, Suffolk, Sienna Potter is a 14 year old acoustic musician playing the guitar and singing. She taught herself how to play after being gifted a guitar at 13. She busks around Ipswich and Colchester and sometimes plays at open mics and small local gigs. Her inspirations come from current pop and acoustic music such as Ed Sheeran.

13:00 : Matt Annis
Matt Annis is an emerging Suffolk poet with a broad mixture of styles, ranging from introspective and emotive to quirky and humorous. Winner of the 2016 Student New Angle Prize, and editor of the University of Suffolk’s 2017 poetry anthology ‘Unfolding Voices’, Matt has also been published in a number of anthologies by Anchor Books and Forward Poetry. Now in his final year at university, Matt continues to perform his darkly playful poetry at festivals, spoken word events, and open mics.
www.facebook.com/shadowmatty

13:10 : Leon O'Leary
Leon O’Leary is a singer-songwriter from a small village on the Suffolk Coast in England, home to the famous Latitude Festival, Folk East and Mavericks. He has grown up surrounded by these music events and the wildness of the Suffolk coast at his doorstep. The kind of environment that often helps to create and nurture the very best of British and Irish singers and songwriters, grounded by melodic truth and the beauty that surrounds them. He writes and plays with the depth and passion of a much older soul, his celtic origins can clearly be heard in his music, giving an insight on his attempts to make sense of the world, and a young mans discovery of love and loss, with the influences of Amos Lee, Damien Rice, Foy Vance, David Gray and Ben Howard and Passenger resonating in his performances.
www.leonoleary.com

13:40 : A.N.G.
A mixture of all things musical, Angelle represents the local scene in many avenues. She is a music artist and wordsmith as well as a radio dj/presenter championing the unsigned local music scene. She started Beats Rhymes and Grime to give a space to the local hip hop scene which opened up access to putting on gigs (Girls Do Music) and festival line ups (Global Village). This unlocked a seat in BBC Suffolk, which now has Angelle hosting the weekly national show BBC Introducing. Angelle was nominated for 100 inspirational women in Suffolk in 2018 for her work in music and youth work with Ipswich Community Media and Future Female Society. She has passion for change and for rooting for the underdog and female empowerment and equality in the music scene.
www.facebook.com/ayyng

13:50 : The Pookajee Players
Not quite music, not quite comedy, The Pookajee Players offer a unique blend of silliness. The cornerstone of their act is using all manner of instruments in order to make silly noises for the entertainment of others. With influences ranging from the folk-blues of Rev. Gary Davis and Big Bill Broonzy, to the 60s surf of The Shadows and The Ventures; with hints of music hall, tin pan alley and Ted Chippington, you’re never bored when The Pookajee Players are around. You’ve not truly heard Elvis Presley’s ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love’ until you’ve heard it ruined by The Pookajee Players.
www.facebook.com/pookajeeplayers

14:30 : Robin Dicker
Robin Dicker is a comedy singer/ songwriter from Suffolk. his lyrics are sometimes somber, sometimes joyful and sometimes deliberately confusing, but never fail to make an audience laugh. taking influences from folk, latin, bluegrass and the blues the melodies are enough to keep you humming his songs for weeks after he's finished, but the unique ideas behind the lyrics will be what leads any audience member to tell all their friends about his subversive and totally original compositions.
www.facebook.com/robindickermusic

15:10 : Holly D Johnston
Holly D Johnston has been on the folk scene in East Anglia for a while, but her writing took on new depth during her year up in Scotland researching storytelling and studying music. Holly’s inspirations range from Joni Mitchell to Karine Polwart and a good murder ballad will always capture her imagination. Holly writes when there is really nothing else she can feel to do and this results in intimate performances no matter how packed the room is. Holly’s songs are passionate, thought provoking and poured from the heart. Her gigs are a dive into the soul world and that place we go to replenish and renew. Holly takes her audience on a journey through story songs to the ether beyond.
www.hollydjohnston.co.uk

15:50 : Hazel Thomas
Hazel is a British Ethiopian poet, writer, artist, human rights advocate and theatre maker whose work tries to make sense of the injustices in our world whilst also celebrating the beauty to be found. She draws upon ideas around feminism, nature, identity, social justice, sexuality and mental health as well as her own experiences of navigating spaces as an intersectional feminist and queer woman of colour in the diaspora.
www.hazel-thomas.wixsite.com

16:10 : Slow King
Singer-songwriter, Producer & Mixing/Mastering Engineer Jacob Powlett is a musician that hails from Ipswich, Suffolk. He has been active in the local music scene, having played support slots for artists such as Bessie Turner & Caswell across Suffolk, as well as being offered a slot on BBC Introducing earlier this year for a session/interview. To date, all releases have been written, produced, mixed and mastered by himself. His live performance is a captivating, multi-instrumental solo show with elements of an acoustic and an electronic performance simultaneously, Singing, playing guitar & keys while also using synthesisers, drum pads & sequencing software in a seamless performance of passion and purpose. In January 2018, Jacob began studying at Point Blank Music School in Hoxton, London, doing a Music Production & Sound engineering degree where he hopes to continue to develop the skills he’s learnt in songwriting and production and take it to the next level, picking up some useful networking skills and contacts along the way.
www.iamslowking.wixsite.com/homepage

Free entry, family friendly, all welcome. Well behaved dogs on leads are welcome. Please enquire through facebook for any access concerns. We do provide on-site disabled parking an ask that you please book in advance. Thank you. 

Unite the Union Acoustic Stage is proudly supported by www.getonthesoapbox.co.uk