Potato Pants Festival
The Potato Pants Festival was created in 2015 with several objectives in mind. It is both a fundraiser and an awareness raiser for a rare, progressive neurological condition called Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia (HSP). It is hoped that at this year’s event, we can raise sufficient funding to purchase a life changing mobility aid for an individual affected with HSP. Any surplus funds raised will be used for research into the condition.
For the first three years the festival was held in the lovely enclosed environment of High Mead Farm, where the event had developed and grown.
In 2019, mainly for accessibility reasons, Potato Pants Festival moved to Cobham Sports and Social Club. A fair percentage of our audience have disabilities and it’s important that it’s as accessible as possible and that these people are able to enjoy the experience as much as everyone else. Cobham Sports and Social Club also has improved parking facilities.
We have two stages, and as always, Potato Pants racing will take place during the afternoon. This year we have attracted some well-known local headline bands and with the two stages we look forward to being entertained by many local musicians of varying genre’s and levels of experience.
Why Potato Pants?
When explaining to a friend what it’s like to have HSP and why she regularly gets so fatigued, a lady once suggested that it felt as though she permanently has 10Kg of potatoes down her trousers. Little did she know that she’d created a great way of fund raising and raising awareness. Other Potato Pants events take place in other countries. In addition to that, it’s a great name for a festival that people tend to remember.