Heal music and wellbeing festival in Shrewsbury set for July

The Heal Festival at West Mid Showground, on the weekend of July 1 and 2, will feature Shaun Ryder's Black Grape, reggae legend Dawn Penn and English ragga DJ General Levy.

Shaun Ryder is famous for the Happy Mondays, while Dawn Penn had a worldwide hit with 'No, no, no you don't love me'.

The charities and community interest companies organising the event are Mental Health Charity Cope, Peace CIC, One Love CIC and the Rural Charity.

The festival will feature a line-up of bands and performers across various genres providing an entertaining and fun day out for all. It was meant to be held for the first time last year but was postponed by the pandemic.

Dawn Penn's earliest recordings were composed and written by her around 1966. In 1967 she recorded the rocksteady single You Don't Love Me, produced by Coxsone Dodd at Studio One.

But it wasn't until 1994 that the song reached worldwide success following a Studio One reunion performance, reaching the charts in the US and Europe, hitting number one in her native Jamaica, and making number three in the UK singles chart.

The song has been sampled and covered by some of the giants of the scene, including Beyonce, Rihanna, Sean Paul, Wu-Tang Clan, Eve, J Millz, Lily Allen and Bob Marley's sons, Stephen and Damian.

In 2001 she was honoured with the Martin Luther King Award by Caribbean Images in recognition of her contribution to Jamaican music.

Also added to the bill is the legend General Levy, famous for his cross-genre styles that appeal across the age divide, and iconic dance acts K Klass, and Altern 8.

They will be supported by home grown tents of talented local DJs and musicians in the Moon Bass arena and /Tek'ni:k/ vs Kontakt tent.

Shaun Ryder has already announced in a video that he is looking forward to performing at 2022's Heal festival with Black Grape.

Alongside the music, there will be food, art, fun fair and attractions as well as a health and wellbeing zone in which the theme contributes to the name of the event, Heal. This area will feature workshops, stalls, yoga and dance.

Support is earmarked for local charities particularly hit by the pandemic, including NHS Dementia, Cope Mental health and the Rural Charity.

Event spokesman Richard Clarke said: "We are proud to be supporting local artists in any way we can and have many more exciting opportunities for the local community to get involved, which are still yet to be announced.

"Having Dawn Penn on the bill is a bit of a coup, considering she is particular on where and how often she performs."

He added: "Being a victim of racism herself when she moved to the Virgin Islands, her presence alone re-enforces our message of unity and one love in the face of discrimination. Her music is truly global."

Tickets are initially £25, and are available at healfestival.co.uk

More announcements are expected over the coming weeks with various indie bands, performers, reggae, dance and local bands to be announced.