With the free music festival returning this month, we sat down with its executive producer to hear about how this community-backed event has become an ‘antidote’ to division.
Kevin Jones established the High Tide Festival back in 2019 with friend and co-owner of Eel Pie Records, Phil Penman, after being approached to do a music event on Church Street for Twickenham Festival.
Kevin said: “I never expected to get anywhere near this kind of scale, but the love for it is just so massive, the community involvement in it is so intense.”
With an estimated 30,000 people attending last year’s 16 stages to watch 102 performers, Richmond Council calls the festival ‘one of Twickenham’s most anticipated cultural events’.
Preparation for a day that brings this many people together can at times be stressful, but Kevin said he has full faith in the council’s support and the first aid teams on hand.
Kevin said: “You have to have this element of calmness about you.
“Things can get chaotic, but the festival is in safe hands.”
Local talent is and always has been at the heart of ‘reigniting the spirit of Eel Pie Island in it’s heyday’.
Twickenham-born band Mystery Jets headlined in 2023 which was a ‘real highlight’ for Kevin and considers the group part of ‘the lineage of the Eel Pie Island’.
Keeping the festival accessible and community focused has been a priority for Kevin, who said that that money isn’t the motivation behind the event.
After the pandemic, he realised the festival’s value in maintaining community wellbeing and how its return supported local businesses that were ‘on their knees’.
The festival is supported financially by Discover Twickenham BID, Richmond Council, The Arts Council, and Twickenham businesses as well as crowdfunding, with 350 people contributing to the campaign last year.
This local effort is what strengthens the festival year after year and volunteers are of all ages and are ultimately ‘people who just want to contribute’.
The festival is on Sunday July 26, 2026 and you can find out more information about it here.
Featured image credit: Bethan King
