Chesterfield pub plans festival to celebrate Lucy Knowles after her tragic death in car crash

Lucy Knowles, 17, died after the car she was travelling in collided with trees off Harewood Road, Holymoorside.

On Saturday, April 23, the Wellington in New Whittington will be hosting ‘Luce Fest’ – a day on which Lucy’s family and friends are invited to come and celebrate her life. Any money raised on the day will go towards the costs of Lucy’s funeral.

Shannon Williams, who manages events and social media for the Wellington, said: “Having spoken to Lucy’s family, they were very keen on it being a happy day, rather than a day of mourning. We’d love everyone to come and celebrate Lucy, and the money we raise will go towards giving her the best send-off we can.

“With her family involved, we came to the idea of having a ‘Luce Fest’ – it’s going to be a day all about Lucy. The family is in absolute anguish, but they’ve said themselves that Lucy would want it to be a fun-filled day, and she’d absolutely love a festival in her honour – it’s so Lucy.

“If we raise more than the target for the funeral, I hope that, in some way, it will provide a small piece of comfort to Lucy’s family – that money can’t replace her but having that money to fall back if they ever need to will be a comfort to them.”

The pub will open from 1.00pm, and Shannon said that the day would be a ‘rave-inspired’ tribute to Lucy.

“We’re going to have photos of Lucy up around, and we’re going to make it a rave-inspired day. All the decorations are going to be really fun and dance-inspired, and Lucy’s friends are going to put together a playlist, so all the songs you hear throughout the day will be songs that Lucy loved herself.”

Rik Rooney and Rhianne Carroll, the landlords at the Wellington, said they would be asking for a discretionary donation on the door, so that people can contribute as much or as little as they like towards Lucy’s funeral.

Rik said there would be a range of entertainment on offer throughout the day, with something for people of all ages.

“We’ve gotten local businesses involved – one just over the road from the pub has made ‘Luce Fest’ t-shirts, which people can buy to help generate money for Lucy’s funeral.

“During the day it will be aimed at the children with bouncy castles, carnival games and children’s entertainers. We’ll be playing films inside the pub as well for the kids, and there’ll be a tuck shop for them with popcorn and sweets.

“There’ll be a donut vendor and burger van, we’ll have a bandstand down the bottom where we’ll be doing face painting and stuff like that.

“In the evening we’re going to have fire breathers, a DJ and MC, and there’ll be a drag queen compèring the event – it’ll be a bit more of a festival-themed in the evening, that’s where they come in.”

Rhianne said there will be a raffle to help raise funds, with local businesses donating a range of prizes – with perhaps the most exciting being hospitality tickets for a Manchester United game. Rik added that, having also lost a family member, he and Rhianne wanted to do their bit to help celebrate Lucy’s life.

“We wanted to make an event of it, to help support the family as they say goodbye to Lucy.

“Having lost a family member myself, I know how hard and stressful it is, and that’s why we’ve made this effort, to make it a memorable day for everyone who knew Lucy.”

The fundraiser for Lucy’s funeral can be found here.