The Barnsley Original Music concept is the birthchild of Dave Hancock of local band Gaia (www.gaiauk.co.uk) who have been volunteering 1000 hours of their time for the last five years to enhance the profile of BOMfest.  The BOM fanzines first edition was printed in 2003 which reviewed bands Demos and Classic albums, Live performances and promoted anything it heard about in the local music arena.

The Co-operative group granted us 500 pounds to pay for the production costs which allowed us time to develop. Once the realization materialized that there was a demand for local music we decided to start our own live BOMnight in conjunction with the fanzine. These nights have been going for five years now and are on a Thursday night at the Pulse bar in Barnsley with free admission, providing a great environment for up and coming bands to perform and be checked out by the BOMfest management.

This evolution from publishing to promoting gave the team some valuable experience for them to take on the task of an outdoor event and the voluntary management team was formed. BOMfest started off as a free outdoor music festival with local bands/musicians and artist coming together for the day to showcase their efforts whilst providing a safe, clean environment for the community to enjoy but the festivals popularity and costs have spiralled and therefore we had to put on a small admission fee to help balance the books.

The events initial planning started in January of 2004 when we enquired about the possibility of funding the event. We thought that by using the local historical heritage as a backdrop (Barnsley National Monument for miners) we would capture the attention of the whole community bringing Barnsleys past and future together. Since them early days we have had major backing from the South Yorkshire Community Foundation, Coalfield Regeneration Trust, The Arts council of England, B.M.B.C., Richard Bailey and U.C.B. and recently Warncliffe publishing.

We thank them all for the support they have given in helping make BOMfest a reality. Thanks also go out to the smaller businesses who year in year out support the festival.

More Information:
www.myspace.com/bomfest