A park vibrated with music, dancing, singing and laughter on Saturday night with guests hailing Bicester Town Council’s latest summer event a huge success.
Hundreds of people showed up for the sell-out Sledgehammer gig at Garth Park, partying the night away to the tunes of the 1980s.
It was the third time covers band Sledgehammer had performed at the park – previously taking to the Garth Park stage in 2019 and 2021 – and once again the band was a huge hit with attendees.
Lots of guests dressed in 80s style costumes such as jumpsuits and dresses with padded shoulders, some were even wearing Sledgehammer t-shirts.
The concert was the second music event held in the par this summer, with Queen tribute band A Night with Queen wowing guests earlier this month.
People took to social media to share how much they enjoyed the night.
Cheryll Sumner said: “So great to see people of all ages, kids, families, friends all enjoying the evening, well done Bicester.”
Michelle Hodges commented: “Absolutely amazing night.”
Peter Railton said: “Amazing night and a great laugh.”
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Dave Barber commented: “Great night out.”
Sledgehammer is made up of Russ Fray on vocals, Simon Bays on guitar, Al Grout on bass and Phil Heard on drums.
By day they do jobs in medicine, IT and teaching, but at the weekend they pick up their musical instruments and take to the stage as 80s cover band Sledgehammer.
They performed their first gig in 2016 and since then have been making a name for themselves with performances across Oxfordshire.
The 80s tribute night was the third in a series of Bicester Town Council-planned events held at Garth Park this summer.
The saga began with Queen tribute act Real Magic, who performed some hits of the legendary band – including We Will Rock You, Bohemian Rhapsody, Killer Queen and I Want to Break Free - at the beginning of August.
This was followed up by another weekend event – a magic day – aimed at younger audiences.
The free event ran during the day with a range of activities, including balloon modelling, a unicorn stilt walker, magic tricks, walkabout fairies, card tricks, a Punch and Judy show and more.
Kids at the event enjoyed taking photos with the Harry Potter and Ron Weasley lookalikes.
Stall holders included Bicester Town Council, Cherwell Theatre Company, Bicester Scouts Group, Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust, the OYAP Trust and Tesco.
All three shindigs saw food from Garth Park based Cafe Savoir on offer, and some guests pre ordered picnic hampers and cocktails.
Read more from this author
This story was written by Matthew Norman, he joined the team in 2022 as a Facebook community reporter.
Matthew covers Bicester and focuses on finding stories from diverse communities.
Get in touch with him by emailing: Matthew.norman@newsquest.co.uk
Follow him on Twitter: @OxMailMattN1
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