Story
Thanks for taking the time to visit The Shuffle's JustGiving page. You can donate here if you have no change for the buckets or if you simply want to support our efforts in raising money for such an important cause.
The Shuffle is Swindon's biggest and best showcase of local musical talent, and was conceived by a group of independent music promoters back in 2007.
Like all great stories, in began in a pub, sketched out on the back of a cigarette packet - the idea was simple and was inspired by already established city centre music festivals like the Camden Crawl, The Great Escape and the Oxford Punt; the crowd was to "Shuffle" between a couple of music venues on one particular night to watch a variety of acts performing.
This quickly expanded before the first event had been run, to be a four-day event, where the audience "Shuffle" around venues giving the event its now familiar name. This inaugural festival was held 19th to 22nd July 2007 and made use of The Victoria, The Furnace, The Rolleston, 12 Bar, and The Beehive, with an opening night held at Swindon Town's Winners Lounge.
In the following years venues and organisers have come and gone, supported charities have changed and the music and musicians involved has been an ever-fluid story. What has remained constant however, is the overall ethos and aim of the event; to bring together the community to showcase a thriving local music scene. Seventeen years later we still strive to highlight the wonderful original musical talent on our doorstep, and help nurture the local scene and support local venues.
Over the years many artists have gone on from playing the Shuffle to make their mark on the wider national scene, including major acts like Stornaway, as well as Swindon's own success stories like Gas Brookfield, Beatbullyz, and The Dead Lay Waiting. More recent years have seen this tradition continue with bands like Stay Lunar and All Ears Avow gaining wider recognition.
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