Hull Freedom Quarter provides new venues for Trinity Festival Rebooted

‘WORKING TOGETHER’: Dan Kelly at Cherry’s Bar

By Rick Lyon, Co-Editor

A street which only had one bar 18 months ago is staking its claim as the city centre’s newest party destination by providing three venues for the next round of HullBID’s free live music festival.

Trinity Festival Rebooted, which has been pulling music fans into bars across the city centre, returns on Saturday, January 27 with more than 50 gigs in 12 different venues.

New to the line-up this time will be Savile Row, Monroe’s Bar and Cherry’s Bar, which along with Unit 49 and with Zinnia due to open in March, plan to transform the city centre social scene.

Dan Kelly, licensee of Cherry’s Bar, said: “We only opened in November so weren’t quite ready for the last round of Trinity Festival Rebooted but we’re really looking forward this one, as are the other bars down Savile Street.

“We’re all working together to establish this street as a destination for events and a festival like this really helps, especially at this time of year.”

PERFORMER: Diddie Hair will be taking part in Trinity Festival Rebooted

The people behind the new bars all worked at some point in Savile Row, which was the only bar in Savile Street until Monroe’s Bar opened in summer 2022. Unit 49 opened last year and Cherry’s Bar followed in November.

Between them they have launched the Hull Freedom Quarter brand, promoting Savile Street as the heart of the city’s LGBTQ+ community with something for everyone.

Dan said: “It’s a shared space for the whole community and we’ve been talking about it for a lot of years. People have responded really well. The feedback is great because the LGBTQ+ community feel comfortable here and it also appeals to straight people of all ages because it’s inclusive, they like the atmosphere, and it connects the new town with the Old Town.

“Trinity Festival Rebooted is a great addition to our regular programmes of live entertainment and hopefully it will attract some new people to Savile Street and show them what we’re doing with some great bars which all have their own identity.”

Trinity Festival Rebooted is part of the HullBID live events programme and has its roots in the HullBID Trinity Festival, which from 2012 until 2017 gave local bands the chance to play support slots to big-name headliners in a series of free outdoor gigs.

The new version, which is supported by investment from the UK Shared Prosperity fund, takes the live performances into bars across the city centre, with the programme running from 3pm until late.

In addition to the bars in Savile Street, participating pubs in the New Town are the Hull Cheese and the Dram Shop. Old Town venues taking part are Telstar 2, Scale & Feather, Crown & Cushion, Calla and Nanouk. Venues in the Fruit Market are the Humber Dock Bar & Grill and Taphouse.

Trinity Festival Rebooted will also take place on Saturday March 30. It is being programmed by Mark Page and Daniel Mawer from the weekly Sesh night, Trinity Live and Humber Street Sesh.

Feedback from the first two weekends indicated that 63 per cent of visitors to the venues were making a special trip into the city centre because of the festival. Nearly three quarters of the audiences were from Hull and others travelled from the surrounding towns and villages, with some from North Lincolnshire. More than 80 per cent of the respondents said they will definitely attend the January event.

Kathryn Shillito, HullBID executive director, said: “The aim of Trinity Festival Rebooted is to promote the city centre evening economy by putting on entertainment which is free of charge, a fun experience and showcases local talent.

IN DEMAND: Work in Progress will also be taking part in Trinity Festival Rebooted

“The feedback from the first two rounds of Trinity Festival Rebooted has been excellent, not just because people have enjoyed it so much but also because we’re picking up a lot of exciting new ideas which will help us keep the event fresh.

“The Hull Freedom Quarter bars show that demand is increasing and we’ve also got more venues asking how they can get involved so word is clearly getting round that the festival is pulling in the crowds.”

• For the latest details of venues and performers at Trinity Festival Rebooted, click here.