THIS time ten years ago, Richard Huish college students performed their own ‘mini-Glastonbury’ in Taunton, showcasing both talented and emerging (at the time) bands.

BTEC Popular Music students rocked the two-night ‘Huish Live and Loud Festival’, held at a local pub by students.

The festival was held in the Master Thatcher pub in Taunton, which closed in November 2022.

The entire festival was run by students, with BTEC Music Production pupils producing the live sound and film students capturing the performance and feeding the live images to screens in preparation for working at the Glastonbury Festival.

Popular Music students at Huish were in a musical stride in 2014, after gigging on 28 different dates in multiple venues across Somerset over the year, performing every fortnight.

In 2024, the Popular Music BTEC has changed. It’s still there and able to study at the college, but it is now called ‘Music Performance and Production’.

This new qualification is a level three extended diploma BTEC, which means that it counts as an A-level equivalent of three A-levels.

Huish’s Popular Music course manager Andy Wild, who has worked with Corinne Bailey Rae and Snow Patrol, said: “We have incredibly talented and hardworking musicians and this festival was a celebration of their years’ work.

“We had a fantastic crowd of students, mixed with relatives and friends.

“The Popular Music BTEC is for anyone that likes performing in popular styles.

“We are the only college in this area where students can experience what it is like to tour with your band and equipment and get a realistic taste of life on the road.”