The Hare and Hounds Hotel is adjacent to the renowned Westonbirt National Arboretum. The Westonbirt Arboretum is a 5 minute drive from the hotel. We advise suitable footwear and clothing for an outdoor event.

Westonbirt Arboretum Concerts 2012
Friday 22 June 2012 - Will Young
Saturday 23 June 2012 - Plan B
Sunday 24 June 2012 - Madness
Friday 20 July 2012 - The Wanted
Saturday 21 July 2012 - Alfie Boe
Sunday 22 July 2012 - Steps

Will Young
Hot off the back of a sold-out UK tour, and Number One platinum album, Will Young has announced a tour of nation’s forests in 2012. In the ten years since winning Pop Idol, Will Young has sold over 9 million records and crafted some of the deftest British music of his era. A succession of hits including ‘Jealousy’, ‘Leave Right Now’, ‘Don’t Let Me Down / You and I’, ‘Light My Fire’, ‘All Time Love’, ‘Who Am I’ and ‘Changes’ from multi-platinum albums like ‘From Now On’, ‘Friday’s Child’ and ‘Keep On’ has ensured a chart presence across the whole decade.

Plan B
Plan B (Ben Drew) singer-songwriter, rapper, actor and film director came to prominence with the 2006 release of the critically acclaimed hip hop album ‘Who Needs Actions When You Got Words’. His next project, the soul-influenced ‘The Defamation of Strickland Banks’, takes the listener on a journey of a man who finds success hard to handle and then hits rock bottom. Released in 2010, the album went on to become the fifth biggest seller of the year and continued a chart presence through 2011. Featuring crafted hit singles like ‘Stay Too Long’, ‘Prayin’’ and ‘The Recluse’, awards have abounded for artist and album alike including Brit Award for Best British Male and a trio of Ivor Novellos: Ben Drew – Songwriter of the Year; The Defamation Of Strickland Banks – Album of The Year and ‘She Said’ - Most Performed Work.

Madness
Recognised as one of the leading bands of the ska-rooted revival, Madness experienced a huge haul of hits in the 80’s going on to spend more weeks on the charts in that decade than any other group. They are renowned for their storming outdoor live and festival shows and year after year generation after generation have grown to love hits like ‘One Step Beyond’, ‘Our House’, ‘Baggy Trousers’, ‘Embarrassment’ , ‘Wings Of A Dove’, ’House Of Fun’, ‘My Girl’ and ‘Driving In My Car’. After 30 years Madness remain a British pop institution.

The Wanted
Just 18 months since their huge Number One debut single ‘All Time Low’, The Wanted has already become one of Britain’s biggest, most brilliant pop bands, living a dream that has far surpassed even their most optimistic expectations. Hard working and quite plainly loving every single second, the band have already notched up a succession of hits, been viewed a staggering 30 million times on YouTube and sold 400,000 copies of their eponymous debut album. ‘Battleground’ their second album is keeping a pace having already generated the hits ‘Lightning’, ‘Gold Forever’, ‘Warzone’ and the Number One Summer dance smash ‘Glad You Came’.

Aflie Boe
Classically trained tenor Alfie Boe has become well established as one of the country’s most popular artists with acclaimed, sell-out, live concerts and 2 Top Ten, ‘platinum’ selling albums in the last twelve months. Theatre-goers have witnessed sensational performances in shows such as ‘Les Misérables’ in the West End and ‘La Bohème’ on Broadway; and with albums like ‘Alfie’ and ‘Bring Him Home’, Alfie Boe’s interpretation of the most revered and timeless songs has ensured an ever-growing fan base.  Alfie’s forest debut will see him performing from his current albums as well as from classical and proms repertoire.

Steps
Steps dominated the charts over a five year period including an impressive run of 14 consecutive top five singles that got the nation dancing like: ‘One For Sorrow’, ‘Heartbeat/Tragedy’, ‘Love’s Got A Hold Of My Heart’, ‘Deeper Shade Of Blue’, ‘After The Love Has Gone’, ‘When I Said Goodbye/ Summer Of Love’ and ‘Stomp’. Their live shows captured the hearts of fans, selling out multiple dates at venues nationwide, making them one of the most successful acts on tour. The Brit-award winning group comprising Lee Latchford-Evans, Claire Richards, Lisa Scott-Lee, Faye Tozer and Ian Watkins (aka H) reformed last year for a documentary series on Sky Living titled Steps: The Reunion. They also announced a UK arena tour which is proving one of the hottest tickets for 2012 and released a Greatest Hits album, ‘The Ultimate Collection’ that entered the charts at the top, becoming the band's third UK No1 album.