The free event, to be held at the National Trust Folk and Costume Courtyard, is now in its fourth year.
‘It’s very popular with islanders,’ said Guy Mitchell, the festival’s organiser and trustee of Dementia Friendly Guernsey. ‘We always fill the venue’s capacity.’
The festival will provide a space where people with dementia, along with their friends, families and carers, can come together for ‘the feel-good factor and a relaxed afternoon out’, and also speak to representatives from Dementia Friendly Guernsey for advice.
But music remains at the real heart of the event.
‘Music is something that’s very important to people with dementia,’ Mr Mitchell explained.
‘It is a big part of the way they communicate. The part of the brain that processes music doesn’t seem to be damaged.’
Yet, despite the importance of music for those with dementia, Mr Mitchell found that a lot of music festivals can prove to be ‘quite hostile’ places. With this in mind he decided to launch his dementia-friendly event.
The festival’s timings are kept to between noon and 4pm, and organisers make sure there is ample seating available. The venue is also wheelchair accessible, buses can pull right up to the entrance, and there will be easy pick-up and drop-off points available on the day.
The musical performances are also adjusted to be dementia-friendly with sets being no longer than 45 minutes and guests welcome to come and go as they please. The volume is also reduced to create a more comfortable listening experience and Mr Mitchell said that ‘local acts playing music people will feel nostalgic about’ would make up the vast majority of the day’s performances.
One such act set to make their first appearance at the festival this year is The Cage Shakers, a Guernsey band known for their rock and roll covers from the 1950s and 60s.
The band’s lead signer Matt Nichols was particularly keen to get involved due to his wife’s prior experiences with Guernsey’s Singing for Health Choir.
‘Through that, I was really about to see the health benefits that music brings to people, both physically and mentally,’ he said.
‘Our set on the day will be all the classic rock and roll hits you can easily dance and sing along to. The era of music we play fits with what a lot of people grew up with, so we’re really looking forward to it.’
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