SWINDON Shuffle runs until Sunday.

As ever, this key event in the local musical calendar gathers the best of original talent.

The roster includes Raze*Rebuild, pictured, and Gaz Brookfield & The Company of Thieves, seen on our cover.

Co-organiser Ed Dyer said: “This will be the 13th year in a row.

“Essentially, the Shuffle is a free-to-attend grass roots music festival. We focus on supporting the local music scene; we put events on over the course of a long weekend at several of the regular music venues in the town, particularly those that support original artists throughout the year.”

The Shuffle is a non-profit festival. There are no entry fees, although audiences are asked for donations to designated charities. This year’s is mental health charity Mind.

“It’s the Swindon and Gloucestershire branch, which we’ve supported for the last three or four years,” said Ed.

“Quite a personal one, that, for all of us, in a sense. They support people with mental health issues, and we as a music scene have lost various members over the last few years to their own inner demons, their own mental health problems.

“It seems to be something that’s prevalent within the creative industries.”

The choice of music is as broad as the organisers can make it.

“We try to be as reflective as we can of what is going on within the local scene, within the confines of our own personal contacts with people. We’ve always had a good representation for indie guitar bands, so we’ve got a good range of those again for this year; bands like Stay Lunar and Talk In Code.

“We’ve got some noisier stuff going on at The Victoria, more punk-edged things like Raze*Rebuild, who are headlining on the Friday night, down to some more creative noisy stuff.

“We also have representation from folk music, Americana, folk punk, and this year for the first time we’re delving properly into electronic music. On the Thursday night The Tuppenny is an all-electronica session where we have three acts who are all very keyboard and sample-driven. They’re quite poppy, all three of them, so it’s very much an interesting experiment for us.”

The Shuffle is spread over four days and several venues.

“We have The Beehive – the ever present venue! It’s been with us for the entire duration. That is on Saturday evening and Sunday late afternoon and early evening, although we tend to party on until we get kicked out!

“We then have The Victoria, which has been a regular part of the event for a long time. That’s where we tend to put the louder, noisier stuff because it’s a more suitable space for that. The Victoria is Thursday and Friday nights this year.

“We have The Tuppenny on Thursday evening and the Saturday and Sunday afternoons, which tends to take the smaller, quieter things. It’s also worth noting that the Saturday and Sunday afternoons are for all ages at The Tuppenny.

“We like the families to come in, the kids to come in and see some live music. Bring your dog!

“We also have a brand new venue for this year, The Hop – or The New Hop, as people are calling it. That’s on the Friday and Saturday evenings.

“These are important events because they show the breadth and the depth of the local talent. It’s also a party and a reward for people who slog with very little reward throughout the year, and in that I include, as well as the musicians, the venues, the promoters and the other people on the fringes.”

Shuffle website swindonshuffle.org.uk has a complete schedule.