The Extonbury festival team have announced that they will be supporting the Air Ambulance and British Heart Foundation at the annual, Exton-based festival this year.

While the Air Ambulance is one of the charities that they have supported since the inception of the event in 2009, they have opted to support the British Heart Foundation following the passing of a local musician and regular performer and attendee of the event, Paul Caffrey.

Extonbury Music Festival started out as a small private celebration of local artists, first becoming a public event in 2009. Now heading for their 14th year, it has become a popular charity music event for the people of Exton and Rutland, showcasing talent from across the region.

All proceeds are donated to charity. Last year, the team raise a record £6,560 and supported local bands, suppliers and charities who attended and performed at the day-long festival.

A spokesperson for the event said: "We've always been proud to support the Air Ambulance - it's unfathomable that such a vital emergency service, particularly in rural areas like ours is funded totally by the public and receives no government support at all. Since our first festival in 2009 we've raised a total of £28,000 for this superb service, including last year's record of £6,560.

"We're sharing our achievements this year with the Heart Foundation in memory of our dear friend and long time supporter Paul Caffrey who sadly suffered a fatal heart attack earlier this year. Heart problems can afflict any of us and the work the Foundation does across the whole spectrum of issues is essential in continuously improving our capabilities in preserving life.

"If you'd like to support us in our work for these two vital charities please buy tickets and join us for a fantastic day of music, food, drink and fun in the company of friends & family on July 1st. Tickets are only £10 per person with kids 12 & under totally free."

The team are also collecting donations for their raffle, a hugely popular part of their fundraising.

If you can donate wine, toys, gadgets, vouchers for local businesses, and other goods, contact the team on [email protected] or via their Facebook page.

Some bands have already been announced, with more expected.

RAW The Band will be opening the event, with some fantastic local bands also featuring, including:

• Dancing Wu LI Masters
• CJ Hatt - who runs the Open Mic Night at The Grainstore!
• Los Cojones - the band of Paul Caffrey, who suffers a fatal heart attack in early 2023.
• Stamford Ska
• Dirty Rumour, regular performers at The Grainstore
• Five Day Weekend - a band from Exton

The event is scheduled to take place on 1 July 2023 from 11:30am until 11:45pm.

If bought in advance, tickets cost £10 per person and can be purchased online.