‘Victoria Park, Home County, inseparable’: Home County Festival returns after hiatus

Music fans packed Victoria Park for the Home County Music Festival. CTV London's Brent Lale reports.

Music fans packed into the centre of Victoria Park Saturday as hometown singer Leanne Mayer kicked off the return of the Home County Music and Art Festival (HCMAF).

“Victoria Park, Home County, they’re inseparable,” said Bev Camp, known as the ‘Dancing Cowboy” and a fixture at local festivals. “This is the life of the city, even for a day. Look at the people here from all over. Same as Sunfest, it’s the best.”

The 49th annual HCMAF returned to Victoria Park two years after organizers with the Home County Folk League (HCFL) paused due to financial constraints.

A year ago, they held a small festival at London Brewing Coop.

This year they came back downtown with just one stage instead of five.

“It’s a testament to Londoners love of Home County,” said Artistic Director Darin Addison about the large afternoon crowd. “We normally have five stages, going on all at the same time so there’s something for everybody. If they don’t like what’s on one side, they go to another stage. So we had to be very meticulous about who we put on the stage. We want something that’s going to appeal to a broader audience. I think we’ve done a great job with the lineup.”

That lineup included Mayer, a contemporary singer-songwriter, as the opening act.

“It’s an honour to be included in the lineup, especially in a shortened group,” said Mayer, who last played the festival in 2019. “I’ve been lucky to get a lot of support from London. Home County is London’s gem. Everybody loves Home County, all the Indie musicians, so it means the world to me to be included.”

This year, the HCFL was taking donations at the park and asking patrons to also spend money in their beer garden or with the vendors.

Organizers will assess this year’s festival and then regroup as they look toward planning next year’s event.

“If we get the donations and the turnout, then that’s certainly going to be inspiration to bring it back to a three-day festival and next year will be the 50th.

The HCFL’s new fiscal year begins in September, so they’ll start talking about a return to a three-day event.

“We’ve got 11 months to put it together,” said Addison.