On the 21st of September 'Weekend Respite' will be coming to Leeds - uniting the city's diverse music creative scene in the fight against cancer. Acting as a fundraiser for Teenage Cancer Trust, the all-day audio-visual event will celebrate Leeds' vibrant cultural sector. The music on display will showcase and fuse some of the city's best acts from the world of jazz, R&B, grime and beyond.
After cancer personally affected the family of organiser Max Purcell-Burrows, Max teamed up with his fellow musician and close friend, Seb Knee-Wright, to organise a fundraiser to raise money and awareness for Teenage Cancer Trust. Within the next 5 years, Teenage Cancer Trusts’ aim is to raise £80 million to provide the best cancer support and care possible for young people. The amazing work that they do to aid young people who suffer from cancer, and their families, is invaluable to thousands of people all over the UK. Utilising their music links, the pair decided to organise an all day mini-festival as a fundraiser, and so Weekend Respite was born.
9-piece group Project Hilts (who have recently been gigging with the likes of Emma-Jean Thackray and Chainska Brassika) will be headlining the event, fusing together elements of grime, R&B and jazz. There will also be appearances from Morpher, Long Legged Creatures as well as Hanibl x Dante, collectively representing Leeds' jazz, hip-hop and electronic scenes. On the other side of the spectrum, singer-songwriter Joshua Zero, indie-punk band itoldyouiwouldeatyou, and the jazz fuelled groups Tall Talker and Shaku (who Ben interviewed a few months back) to complete the billing. On top of this, visuals will be provided courtesy of Joe O’Shea and Elliot Buchanan.
Discussing the event, Max Purcell-Burrows said:
“We hope to engage young people and their families across Leeds who have experienced the pain of cancer, whilst also inviting anyone from across the city who loves Leeds’ creative scene”
The event will be taking place on the 21st of September 2019 at Hyde Park Book Club (Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS6 1BL) - bringing the fight against Cancer to the heart of Leeds’ creative scene.