ON OUR RADAR

Exeter Respect Festival 2023

Exeter Respect Festival returns for its 26th year with live music and performance, food stalls, campaigners and community groups.

Leigh Curtis

Exeter Respect Festival returns to Belmont Park on Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 June for its annual celebration of Exeter diversity.

The event hosts live music and arts performances on main and marquee stages alongside local community and campaign groups and local food and drink stalls.

There will also be play, art, workshops, dance, stories, crafts and displays.

Headlining on Saturday are reggae outfit Revelation Roots, a ten piece band which has played at Glastonbury, Beautiful Days and Boardmasters festivals.

Batch Gueye and his band are Sunday’s headliners. They will bring the heart of West Africe to Belmont Park through the traditional music of the Senegalese Baye Fall.

Exeter Respect Festival Saturday 10 Sunday 11 June 2023 Belmont Park

Exeter Respect Festival began as a small one day event in Northernhay Gardens before growing into weekenders and themed events at Exeter Phoenix then settling in Belmont Park from 2009 with a two day festival for up to 20,000 attendees.

The event has welcomed many musicians and artists over the past 25 years. Then up-and-coming Teignmouth band Muse played in 1998. Other highlights have included Asian Dub Foundation Soundsystem, Talvin Singh, Wiley and Skepta.

In July 2020 the festival moved online, also holding a vigil in Belmont Park in memory of those lost to COVID-19 and in the Grenfell Tower fire, police murder victim George Floyd and Simeon Francis, who died in police custody in Torquay.

Exeter Respect returned to Exeter Phoenix in 2021 for a one day event but has been back at its regular Belmont Park home since last year.

Subscribe to The Exeter Digest - Exeter Observer's essential free email newsletter

Your personal information will be processed and stored in accordance with our Privacy Policy

Exeter Respect Festival is open from 11.30am-7pm on Saturday 10 June and 11am-6pm on Sunday 12 June 2023, with an over-16 entry fee of £2 on each day. The event is alcohol-free.

Photo of Exeter Respect Festival by Clive Chilvers licensed under Creative Commons.


Democracy doesn't work when people don't know who is deciding what on whose behalf and what the costs and consequences of those decisions will be.

Exeter Observer is proving that reader-funded media can deliver the independent public interest journalism our local democracy needs.

Upgrade to a paid Exeter Observer subscription to support our work and get access to exclusive premium content and more.

More stories
Clifton Hill sports centre redevelopment site

Second undervalue sale of Clifton Hill sports centre site after buyback loss leaves city with £3m less than initial market value

Council sold land for £2.14m – at £2.11m discount – then bought it back for £3.037m before selling again for £3.375m at £425,000 discount with £225,000 sweetener after also agreeing to spend net £600,000 on preparation, marketing and disposal costs.

Mary Arches car parks redevelopment site aerial view

300-bed “co-living” blocks to trump social housing vision for Mary Arches car parks

More people could be crammed into Eutopia Homes complex than current car parking spaces after Exeter City Council commits to “homes for the people of Exeter” on Liveable Exeter North Gate site.

Exeter Public Spaces Protection Order boundary map

Exeter City Council renews Public Spaces Protection Order for three more years

Measure introduced to curb anti-social behaviour in 2017 extended to 2028 following consultation limited to selected consultees.

Alison Hernandez and James Vaughan

Police and Crime Commissioner Alison Hernandez launches Devon & Cornwall Police “accountability board”

Monthly board meets in private with press and public excluded without publishing advance agendas or minutes to ensure force is delivering an “effective and efficient police service”.

Eutopia Homes Exmouth Junction build to rent development rear elevation

First Exeter build to rent flats marketed at £1,375-£2,350 per month with “affordable” units costing £1,080-£1,800 plus bills

Eutopia Homes rents in Exmouth Junction block would leave many workers with substantially lower income than Joseph Rowntree Foundation minimum for a socially-acceptable standard of living.

Northbrook Swimming Pool campaign demonstration Exeter Guildhall 13 May 2025

Campaigners compel Exeter City Council to reconsider Northbrook pool closure with 2,250-strong resident petition

Pressure on council intensifies after freedom of information request responses confirm £3.5 million budget cuts included potentially unlawful decision to close swimming pool without public consultation or impact assessment.