After a sell out in 2014, Festifeel makes its sixth return with a fantastic array of acts for their annual event on Saturday 10th October at House of Vans in Waterloo, London. Joining the line up this year are Everything Everything, Slaves, Lucy Rose, Eaves, Billie Marten, Mike Skinner, Woman’s Hour, Reef and Danny Howard, with more special extras to be added. It certainly seems to be the perfect way to spend a Saturday.

This one-day event, produced by breast cancer awareness charity, CoppaFeel!, is the last event on their Summer Boob Tour, after continuously working tirelessly to advance breast cancer awareness to thousands of young people across the country. The charity was founded in 2009 by Kristin Hallenga, who was diagnosed with breast cancer at just 23. Kristin decided it was time to turn the tables and bring breast cancer awareness to the forefront of young people’s minds. CoppaFeel! was set up to educate young people on the importance of checking their boobs regularly and to be able to recognize the signs and symptoms of breast cancer. The message is, “the sooner we become best chums with our boobies and the sooner we will spot any changes”. CoppaFeel! has been praised hugely for the innovative ways they deliver their message across to young people, like sending monthly text messages to make sure girls are checking their boobs.

The charity’s aim is to stop late detection and delayed diagnosis of breast cancer by informing people of the signs and symptoms to look out for and to make sure people know what their boobs normally look and feel like. CoppaFeel! are trying to build up confidence in people to seek medical advice and attention whenever they detect abnormalities. Figures show that 5% of diagnosed cases are already at stage IV with breast cancer being the second one most commonly diagnosed cancer in women under 30. CoppaFeel! are striving for a UK where no one dies of breast cancer, but they rely solely on voluntary donations as they receive no government funding.

CoppaFeel! have now enlisted the likes of singer Rae Morris, the author, actress and blogger Giovanna Fletcher and several YouTubers to be a part of a Digital Boob Team called ‘Boob Ninjas’, to spread the word via social media. The ever-building social media presence of CoppaFeel! is vital in broadcasting their message across not only the UK, but the world. Not only has Rae Morris been spreading CoppaFeel!’s message on social media, she has also released her new single, ‘Don’t Go’, in which money from sales is being donated to CoppaFeel!. But it’s not just the money made from the single that is important, it’s the video too. The message behind the video is chilling, upsetting, but most importantly, life-saving.

Former Radio 1 DJ Fearne Cotton, curates the festival and said: “Festifeel is back, bigger than ever and I can’t wait to be involved again! The bands and artists I ask to play are always so excited to get involved, but more importantly to get behind CoppaFeel!’s life-saving message and work. I have been patron of CoppaFeel! for 4 years now and have loved watching it grow from strength to strength. Bring on the FUN!”

As CoppaFeel! grows, so does the quality of acts they attract for Festifeel. Last year’s event at London Fields Brewery brought in an impressive line-up: Rizzle Kicks, Zane Lowe, Lianne La Havas, Nick Mulvey and Rhodes among others. If you think nothing could top that, think again.

One of the big acts to take the stage this year is the Manchester based art-pop band, Everything Everything. This outspoken band, who sing about controversial topics such as the rise of UKIP, beheadings and missing airplanes, are going to be quite the performance. The 2010 South Bank Award ‘best breakthrough artist’ winners released their 3rd album, Get To Heaven, in June this year, and have constantly received high praise for their unique and unparalled sound.

British two-piece punk band, Slaves, are also part of this year’s impressive line up. These two have had quite year, with the release of their hugely successful album, Are You Satisfied?, and a nearly sold out first headline UK tour. This much-loved duo has very quickly built up a large fan base and has become a regular feature on mainstream BBC radio–– a definite must see.

The exceptionally talented singer/songwriter, Lucy Rose, is my pick of the acts at the day festival. After her release of her second album, Work It Out, earlier this year Rose has had a very busy festival schedule this summer and is currently touring Europe whilst preparing for another UK tour starting in October.

The line up is completed with the likes of folk singer, Eaves, talented 15-year-old singer/songwriter, Billie Marten, English rapper, Mike Skinner (a.k.a. The Streets), four piece electro pop band, Woman’s Hour, and Radio 1 DJ, Danny Howard.

If this is all enough to whet your appetite, tickets are available to purchase now via DICE, which is available to download on the App Store and Google Play, for just £28 with no booking fee. For such an incredible and important cause and with a phenomenal line up to boot, this is definitely a must-go-to event. If, however, you are unable to make it to the event, don’t be shy to donate whatever you can to help keep raising awareness for breast cancer so CoppaFeel can achieve their aim of stamping out late detection or misdiagnosis. To do so, or to find out more about the work they do, visit coppafeel.org.

Ralph Palmer

Categories: Arts

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