RNN Group Named Headline Sponsor for Wentfest 2026
RNN Group is to be the headline sponsor for Wentfest 2026, an incredible family festival of music, comedy and performing arts hosted at Hooton Lodge Farm, Rotherham on Saturday 13th June with confirmed headline act – star of music, stage and screen – Jason Donovan!
RNN Group (made up of campuses including Rotherham College, North Notts College, Dearne Valley College and University Centre Rotherham (UCR)) is proud to be supporting this local community event right in the heart of South Yorkshire and two of our Colleges, Rotherham College and Dearne Valley College.
The Group is excited to be involved primarily for the opportunities it brings to our students including providing a platform for Performing Arts students from the College to programme and perform their own schedule of entertainment throughout the day, talks and workshops in a variety of industries including event planning / management, facilities management, catering, audio / visual creative production marketing, performing arts facilitated by the Wentfest team in the run up to the event, as well as work experience on the day at the event.
Wentfest started life as Wentworth Festival back in 2017, organised by local residents Toby Foster and Steve White and bringing huge chart names including Blue, Scouting For Girls, Heather Small, Five, Tony Hadley, The Feeling, Lemar and Kim Wilde to Rotherham.
In addition to the Main Stage, there will be a Comedy & Spoken Word Stage, programmed by our sister company The Last Laugh Comedy Club, Yorkshire’s longest-running comedy club. Since it’s inception in the 1990’s The Last Laugh has introduced Yorkshire to some of the biggest names in comedy, including Peter Kay, Alan Carr, Jason Manford, Ross Noble, John Bishop and Jimmy Carr to name just a few.
The addition of the New Music Stage is our chance to support fantastic up and coming grassroots talent from our area, giving them the chance to appear on the same bill as some of the world’s biggest chart acts. Examples of bands that have gone on to huge success since performing on the Wentfest New Music Stage are Late Night Legacy, Shanghai Treason and The Rosadocs, the latter who have band members who went to Rotherham College.
Mark Ryan, Vice-Principal, Curriculum, RNN Group said,
“This is a fantastic collaboration for the RNN Group and its colleges and the opportunities for students will be immense.
“To be able to offer work experience and workshops on various key career opportunities to our students in the run up and on the day of a local Rotherham event of this scale is fantastic for our students across all of our sites.”
Toby Foster, Wentfest Founder, added
“This a fantastic partnership for Wentfest as it really reflects what our event is about, a truly local festival for the people of Rotherham. Not only do we bring the biggest stars of music and comedy to our doorstep, we’re also very passionate about offering a platform for up-and-coming talent to showcase their skills – whether that be performing, working behind the scenes or even helping us plan the event in advance.
As a former Rotherham College student myself this feels like a full-circle moment for me and both Steve and myself, as well as the extended Wentfest team, can’t wait to work with both staff and students.”
For more information on the RNN Group of Colleges visit: https://www.rnngroup.co.uk/ and to find out more on Wentfest 2026 visit: https://www.wentfest.com/.