Penny Lane Weekender is a grass roots community festival founded by Liverpool
band “Pleasure Island” in 2023. Initially billed as a one-off event in the upstairs area
of Dovedale Towers, a pub famous for being the residence of Freddie Mercury
before his Queen glory days, the band wanted to give their friends a chance to visit
Liverpool to play a gig.

The one day gig immediately became a festival as it took on a second venue and
two extra days to accommodate this demand. The inaugural festival saw 32 acts,
both local and national, take to the venues to entertain the crowds, all managed and
put on by friends and the community.

They would go on to repeat this feat in 2024, undergoing a further expansion to four
stages and 70 artists. This was a learning experience to grapple with the
complexities of running a music festival, founded more by accident than design.
Despite the unconventional start, the festival has grown to be a success, held
together by a never say die attitude and a passion for discovering fresh live music.
With Pleasure Island on the road scouting and the team constantly with ears to the
ground, the festival delivers an eclectic mix of Indie, Rock, Punk, Electronica, Dance
and Pop.

National bands like Acid Klaus and Erotic Secrets of Pompeii blended with
Liverpudlian acts Sweet Beans, The DSM IV and Alien Izz to entertain audiences in
2024. Now in the third year, the festival continues to widen the the net for talent,
through the inclusion of Queensway Tunnel Collective, Kikimora Records and
International artists QUJAKU (JP).

Much more than just a weekend of music, the setting of the festival with its myriad of
bars, delicious food offerings and sunny beer gardens on and around the iconic
Penny Lane area, provides everything required for a trip out of the heart of the city,
to this pleasant suburb known the world over.