By Rachael grealish

The Lottery Winners are ‘thrilled’ to return to Whitehaven for the final Boof Festival bash, being grateful to the organisers for being the ‘only festival to get behind them’.

The Manchester band are one of four headliners for the final run of the West Cumbrian festival set to take place August 18 and 19 – they are headlining alongside Cast, The View and BAD NERVES.

In a social media post, The Lottery Winners – made up of Thom Rylance, Robert Lally, Katie Lloyd, and Joe Singleton – stated they are ‘thrilled’ to be returning and credited The Boof for being the only ones to get behind them in the beginning and give them a chance.

They wrote: “For years, no festival was interested in booking us. We used to ask them all and they all passed. The only festival that ever really got behind us was the Mighty Boof in Whitehaven, so we’re thrilled to be returning for their farewell festival this year.”

The Lottery Winners will be headlining the Friday night of the festival, with Cast, and last played in Whitehaven in October last year.

When the news came out The Lottery Winners were confirmed for the final festival, their love for The Boof was clear then as Thom told The Herdwick News that returning to Whitehaven feels like they are ‘returning to the place where we found our feet’.

“[Returning to Cumbria feels] nostalgic and beautiful. Feels like returning to the place where we found our feet,” Thom said, “Danny [Maudling] has booked us for years, way before anyone else was interested.

“It’s the end of an era, and we really do thank the Boof for everything they’ve done for us, other bands and music lovers.”

The band’s most recent studio album, ‘Anxiety Replacement Therapy’, attained UK album number 1 back in May, something the festival’s organisers are excited to see live.

Boof organiser, Danny Maudling, reminisced about the band’s first performance in Whitehaven over 15 years ago and said he’s ‘never known such a hard-working band’.

He told The Herdwick News: “I feel very happy about The Lottery Winners playing the very last Boof gig, they played my second-ever gig back in 2007.

“I’ve never known such a hard-working band as them I’ve lost count on how many times they have played for me and it’s an absolute pleasure to watch how well they are now doing. Well done guys you’ve earned it and are smashing it.”

Tickets for the final Boof Festival start from £30, which can be split into a three-payment plan with PayPal, and can be found HERE.