A FESTIVAL to celebrate the life of Caroline Flack was the perfect way to mark the legacy of the presenter’s life, one of her friends has said.
Anna Blue helped organise the Flackstock Festival which saw singers and celebrities come together to remember the Love Island presenter in the wake of her suicide two years ago.
The event, which also raised money for mental health charities, attracted thousands of guests.
Speaking about why Caroline’s friends wanted to put on the event, Anna told GB News: “We were left with such a difficult end for her. And everyone wanted to put a different full stop on things and to try and to say and show how much we loved her. She was incredible, vibrant, joyous.
“We wanted to hold an event that celebrated the fact that it is OK to be open and talk about mental health. The elephant in the room became the way her life ended. And nobody wanted that to be her legacy. She was very, very close to the charities we were raising funds for, so doing something for them in her name was the perfect way to say goodbye. Caroline’s death also happened at a time we weren’t able to get together as we were in lockdown after her funeral. She had a lot of friends and we all wanted to get together to create something special which, in the end, was what we were able to do.”
Caroline’s close friends, family and colleagues will feature in an upcoming special about the making of Flackstock Festival.
Held at Englefield House on July 25, the one-off festival was organised by Flack’s loved ones in her honour after she died by suicide in February 2020, aged 40.
In a bid to raise awareness of mental health issues, celebrity performers including Ronan Keating and Tom Grennan took to the stage at the event for live music and comedy.
The Masked Singer’s Joel Dommett, Fleur East, Professor Green, Natalie Imbruglia, and Dermot O’Leary were among those in the line-up.
Flack’s best friend and writer Dawn O’Porter shared the trailer of the upcoming documentary, which premieres on Sunday August 28 on Sky Max.
‘We made a documentary about the making of Flackstock,’ she penned.
Close friend and singer Olly Murs also took to the stage (Picture: WireImage)
‘The whole thing was an absolute whirlwind of laughs and crying and stress and joy and every single other emotion on the planet. I’m so glad we did it.
‘I’m so proud of all the people who made it happen and so grateful to everyone who performed and came. You can watch it at 7:30pm, Sunday 28th August. Sky Max and Showcase. Please do. It’s amazing what friendship can create. I miss you Caroline.’
During the teaser, presenter Keith Lemon expressed his doubts over the idea of a festival.
‘I just felt “oh it’s not going to work,”‘ he says.
‘You see documentaries about festivals falling on their a**e and it’s like “oh no.”‘
The Xtra Factor host’s mum Christine said she wanted to put on the event because ‘singing, dancing and most of all laughing’ were things her daughter loved to do the most.