How did the Sussex Soul & Dance Weekender come about? What’s the story?

In September 2016 a close friend and well-known Soul Music artist decided to marry his sweetheart and hold the wedding reception at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Felbridge. The wedding and the reception afterwards were both brilliant and everyone had a great time partying into the early hours. The celebrations took place across several rooms and included live acts, DJs and a sit-down slap-up dinner. It was just a beautiful day and evening and the Crown Plaza was filed away for future reference.

Several years later, in the summer of 2022, we were lamenting the fact that we had nothing going on in the UK between BolBeats in May and Bolsoul in October. We’d always fancied doing a mid-summer event in the UK, so we did a few road trips across the South before eventually coming back to the Crown Plaza. We had a nice meeting with them but couldn’t manage to reach a mutually agreeable outcome. And that was that, or so we thought.

In March 2024 we got a call out of the blue from the Crown Plaza Events team asking us whether we’d be interested in taking the first weekend in August, so we had another meeting. This time, we’re delighted to say, that we did manage a mutually agreeable outcome and so the first Sussex Soul & Dance Weekender was finally born.

But we had to move fast. Not many events happen in this neck of the woods, so it was important to invite some live acts that people know. We knew there was a solid Surrey commuter belt suburban Soul audience who like their 80s anthems, so were delighted to be able to procure the leading UK Britfunk band of them all, Light Of The World, with hits like “Swingin’”, “Time”, “I Shot The Sherrif”, “London Town” and “No.1 Girl”. We were also delighted to get another act who dominated the charts in the late 80s with the international smash “Hangin’ On A String” as well as other hits like “Magic Touch”, “Slow Down” and “Don’t Be A Fool” so a big welcome to Loose Ends! Light Of The World and Loose Ends will both be performing on Saturday evening. This ticked the boxes for our heritage acts but we also wanted the dynamic of a current contemporary Soul act and we mutually decided on Cornell C.C. Carter who played for us at Bolsoul 5 and luckily happens to be in the UK in early August, so we’re delighted to welcome him back. He’s one of the most dynamic performers we’ve seen, so Cornell will be kicking off the live element of the Sussex Soul & Dance Weekender on the Friday evening. Make sure you catch him. He’s dynamite!

Naturally we also have the pleasure of hosting a cream line-up of DJs for the event. Our DJs have been drawn from across the South of the UK and the Soul music world, so we have the cream of DJ talent locally and top-line crews from both Starpoint and Solar radio. 26 DJs in total playing 3 rooms and the garden on the Friday and Saturday. It’ll be music heaven.

The location of the Crown Plaza Hotel is perfect for access across the UK, being just 5 miles from Gatwick airport and the M23 and conveniently situated at junction 6 on the M25 for the A22 to East Grinstead. The hotel is in a beautiful location and is directly on the border of Sussex and Surrey just outside the historic town of East Grinstead.

The hotel itself has a stunning outside garden contained within the grounds of the complex and this will be at the centre of the different event rooms for easy access to each room. If we’re blessed with good weather in August, the garden will be cream on the top! Also there is a swimming pool and a beaty spa for the ladies to spoil themselves over the weekend.

We should add that we were always intending to target this weekend. For many years we’d be at the Margate Soul Festival in a social capacity, to soak up the vibes and see our mates throughout the Saturday and Sunday. However, as the festival grew and expanded beyond its original remit, we decided that it was maybe time to offer an alternative which could offer excellent value in a less congested location. Hopefully we’ll achieve that ambition with everyone’s support!

Ian & Carl