James Barton of
Cream wanted to create a rock music festival in the
North West to rival that of the other great festivals across
Britain after the success of his
Creamfields dance music festival. The event was co-produced by
Cream and festival management firm Loud Sound, which already organises
Creamfields, the
Isle of Wight’s
Bestival and
RockNess in Scotland. Barton approached
Lord Derby to use the grounds of
Knowsley Hall as it was an ideal venue for an atmospheric festival he said. Lord Derby was more than happy to take part in the organising of the first ever KHMF, after the success of a
Status Quo concert there the previous year. With Barton's contacts and experience and with Lord Derby's estate, the north west was set to have the biggest festival ever to take place there.
The Who,
The Coral,
The View, and
Keane were the first acts to be signed up,
The Zutons then followed. Many more acts followed, with
Joss Stone and special guests:
Madness, being added to the Sunday event due to minor complaints of not enough acts being announced for the Sunday early on. The many other acts were announced various weeks later during the build-up to the festival. ==2007==