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History of the festival: 1 (1992)
RIVERfest (formerly The
Burnham Festival) has its roots in an initiative jointly
mooted in 1992 by the, then, Arts Minister, rock
promoter Harvey Goldsmith and Rolling Stone Mick Jagger.
Their idea was to institute an annual National Music Day
throughout the country - a day when musicians of all
ages and levels of ability and spanning every musical
genre could come together to celebrate and share the
gift of music-making.
Thousands of events were organised across the length and
breadth of the country on Sunday 28 June 1992. The
Burnham National Music Day concert, held on the
Millfield, using an old marquee as a stage, was one such
event. Peter Dale, Head of Music at St Peter's School
and local GP, Herb Montague-Brown - an enthusiastic
Rotarian - were the initial driving forces.
That first event
involved local choirs, chamber music groups, music
students, pop duos and, as a finale, a
specially-assembled blues band. It involved about 50 or
60 performers and was watched by a crowd of about 200,
who set the pattern for the future, bringing down
picnics and bottles of beer and wine to help create a
relaxed, family atmosphere in the June sunshine.
That first National Music Day was organised under the
Burnham and Dengie Hundred Rotary Club's banner though,
from the outset, Rotary made it clear it wished to turn
it over to an independent organising group. That became
the Burnham National Music Day Committee, headed by
energetic journalist and musician Tim Aves.
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