It’s In the Bag Cancer Support (IITB) are a festival organiser with a single mission – to raise awareness.
The aim of the event is to encourage people to attend from all over the South West of England and do like at any other festival, watch bands, eat, drink, catch up with friends and have a good time. The team in the background talk about the importance of self-checking, sell merchandise with messages on them and talk to attendees about what the charity does and how it helps. By the end of the day, there are many wearing IITB T-Shirts and bright orange pants on the outside.
Test Fest also has another purpose that wasn’t discovered until last year. Many survivors and their families attend and catch up with those who have had treatment, those just diagnosed or those still receiving treatment. This is like a mini Testicular Cancer family and seeing those great conversations tell IITB that they are doing the right thing.
Most of the bands appearing at the festival donate their performance to the charity or play at a very reduced rate.
Most of the bands donate their performance to the charity or play at a very reduced rate, the bands appearing at this year’s Test Fest on Saturday 17th June 202 at Taunton Rugby Club include Stereosonics, Filta, The Jamestown Brothers, Thomas Kavanagh, The Mayhaps, The Idle Silence, Beware of Leopards and Elevation. IITB are also supported by patrons: Downsy – MC/Compare; Nutty Noah – Family Entertainer and Dixon Does Doodles – images design.
Testicular Cancer is the most common cancer in young men, so to get young people involved in the festival, bands from Richard Huish College music department play , the two bands this year are UK Placeholder and Syncopation and the organisers have worked with Taunton and Bridgwater College to design the big letters TEST FEST at the festival as part of their work experience.
IITB’s aims are to support men at diagnosis and during treatment, raise awareness to encourage early detection and celebrate the 98% survival rate from Penzance to Worcester.
