Life in the Lymelight for NSCG Students
12 June 2026
Two bands from Newcastle and Stafford Colleges Group (NSCG) Newcastle College’s Performing Arts Department performed at Lymelight Festival during the late May bank holiday weekend.
Founded in 2013, Lymelight Festival is Newcastle-under-Lyme's leading grassroots music event. Held annually in the town centre, the free-to-attend event has grown from a small local showcase into one of Staffordshire’s biggest celebrations of emerging creative talent, and flying the flag for NSCG were bands Whatserface and Scullopendras.
Between Whatserface taking to the Guildhall Stage and Scullopendras performing on the Ironmarket Stage, Lymelight Festival was kicked off with the unique and melodic sound of NSCG’s finest.
Catching up with them afterwards, we asked what it was like playing at such a well-known local event. NSCG student Maria Nihill from Scullopendras told us, “Overall we all enjoyed it. It was an incredibly nice and welcoming environment to have our very first out-of-college gig. The experience has opened our eyes to how our future may potentially look and also opened other peoples’ eyes to local and beginner bands.
“We had a fair amount of support from NSCG too, we were allowed to practice in lessons whenever we had finished the work and we were allowed to borrow a keyboard for the performance.
“We managed to get into the festival with no external help, and it really helped us to grow the experience we needed in order to email and reach out in the future to have for other gigs.
“Overall, we loved it so much and can’t wait to potentially play Lymelight again next year, and play more gigs for the local community in the near future.”
