Country on The Coast is back on South Parade Pier with more than 30 Americana and roots acts

Opening on Friday evening, there will be music throughout the weekend, featuring a host of UK and international acts at The Gaiety.

The festival made a successful debut in 2019, and after an enforced Covid break is now on its third outing.

Founder and co-organiser Hannah Roper says: ‘I'm really excited, it's great to be able to bring all of the country talent down to the south. There are a few gigs here now, but most of the time you have to travel to London or Brighton or Southampton to see some of these people.’

A business coach in her day job, Hannah adds: ‘Country music is still not as accessible for people in Portsmouth, but what I'm amazed by is that the more I meet people in the city, when I'm doing the Pamodzi Inspirational Women of Portsmouth Awards, or going to network events, and I talk about country music – the amount of people that say to me: “Oh, I love country music!” but it's almost like people aren't overt enough in their love and support for it.

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‘So it's great to be able to keep this in Southsea for locals to be able to access these artists.’

The weekend kicks off at 5.30pm on Friday and then midday on Saturday and Sunday. The festival all takes place undercover, so will be unaffected by the weather.

‘We've got about 38 acts now across the three days – we've got two sets where we've got three or four artists working together, doing little collaborations. I was trying to get as many people as possible in the festival!

‘We've got a collection of Texans – four artists from Texas who are travelling over specially who will all be performing, and another group called the Songs and Stories Collective, which is made up of Tennessee Twin, Donna Marie and Sarah Yeo, and they're all performing together which is quite cool.’

Over the years Hannah has seen country music growing in popularity here in the UK.

‘There are lots of people who do enjoy the country music genre and I think because it has evolved away from what people traditionally thought of it – that country and western thing, whereas now it is pop-crossover, there's country-rock, outlaw country, country fusion – there's all these different types now, and I think that has opened it up to a lot more people.

‘People do like the music when they hear it, but they don't always associate it with "country".

‘It is still growing in popularity and I think there's still a lot more growth to be had. Country2Country up at the O2 is really popular, and there are other country festivals like Buckle and Boots and BCMA Fan Fest which are really popular. There have been some festivals which have fallen by the wayside in the past couple of years because it is difficult to put these things together, and there are a lot of economic pressures, but for me it's really important to keep Country on The Coast going.’

While Hannah is looking forward to seeing everything over the weekend, there’s a few acts she’s particularly keen to catch.

‘I'm really excited to see Emma Svensson back again, she was with us last year and she has travelled over from Sweden. I'm really looking forward to the group of Texans, Biddy Ronelle is fitting us into her busy schedule on the Sunday – I've never seen her live before. And Alan Finlan, a local boy’, pictured above with Hannah, ‘is bringing his band. He's previously performed solo at Country on The Coast, so now he's going to be finishing off the Saturday night with his full band.’

Hannah previously performed country music herself as Lily Garland, even winning a Guide Award.​​​​​​, but has since hung up her microphone. Is she tempted to get up and show them how it’s done?

‘Always tempted,’ she laughs, ‘until I look at my spreadsheet and think, no, I have too much to do! I do get asked, and it's lovely that people do ask, but in all honesty it all adds an extra level of stress. I much prefer to stand behind the scenes now...’

Country on The Coast takes place from April 21-23. Weekend tickets are £60. Day tickets from £25. Go to book.events/gaietybarsouthsea.