BEN Dunne felt he had two choices when he lost his son River Reeves.

He could let his grief consume him or he could continue River’s journey for him.

River was Viola Beach’s guitarist and was making his dreams come true as a performer when his life was tragically cut short, aged 19, in a crash in Sweden in February 2016.

Ben and his family were devastated and even now they say it still does not feel real.

But through the heartache, they have been able to make some kind of peace with what has happened through RivFest, the festival in his memory at Priestley College where he completed an A-level music and a BTEC in drama and music.

Ben, 50, said: “The whole thing still doesn’t seem real. It’s like he’s on tour and he’s going to come bounding into the room at any time.

“Is RivFest a way of coping with the grief? Probably. I think with grief you just give in to it and it just takes over your life or you channel the energy in a positive way – and that’s what we’re doing.

“What I’ve learnt over the past year is that grief can incapacitate you but it can also give you a huge amount of drive.

“And we want to channel that drive into doing something amazing for young people across Warrington.”

Almost 30 artists will be performing at RivFest including headliners Maximo Park, Billy Bragg and Warrington’s own Mo Adeniran from The Voice .

Ben, who is Penketh High’s principal, added: “The whole thing seems like a bit of a dream. The other night in the kitchen I was going through the line-up and having conversations about where we were going to put Maximo Park and Billy Bragg and sometimes you sort of pinch yourself.”

With 4,500 tickets on sale it is a far cry from last year’s festival attended by 300 people.

Ben, who lives with his wife Sharon in Grappenhall Heys, said: “Last year we held the event within three or four months of losing River.

“It was just a case of wanting to put a marker in the sand – to do something we think he would be really proud of.

“We organised it in two weeks and we had 300 people on the field at Priestley.

“But what it did do was afforded us all those connections in the music industry who were amazing.

“Most of them said we can’t do it this year but get in touch and we’d love to be involved down the line.

“So Sharon and I were determined that RivFest ‘17 was going to be a real step up.

“Having Billy Bragg play is personal as I’ve loved him since I was 17 and River used to take the mickey out of me playing St Swithin’s Day very badly on my guitar.

“So to have Billy on stage hopefully playing St Swithin’s Day is going to be bittersweet.

“It’s going to be very emotional.”

RivFest will raise money for the River Reeves Foundation which helps young people access the arts as a career option.

Five bursaries have already been given out.

Ben added: “As Viola Beach would have one day headlined Glastonbury in their own right – I’m convinced of it – one day we want to see a headline act pulling in 20,000 people that has come from Warrington.

“So as a foundation we want to inspire youngsters especially those who might come from a background where they’re not able to afford the luxury of guitar lessons.

“We can provide that so young people who might not consider the arts as a pathway do down the line.”

If you want to support the River Reeves Foundation visit riverreevesfoundation.org

This week's Warrington Guardian, out now, includes a 12-page special guide to RivFest - the festival in memory of Viola Beach guitarist River Reeves - with interviews with all the main acts including Maximo Park, Billy Bragg, Mo and Max and organiser Ben Dunne. 

Warrington Guardian:

  • RivFest is at Priestley College on Saturday, September 2, and is headlined by Maximo Park. Tickets are £20 or £5 for under 16s. To book click here
  • Arriva will be running a shuttle bus every 20 minutes on the day from Bank Quay and Central stations