Memory of teenager Lincoln Hawkes who died in tragic car accident lives on through new charity music festival Lincfest

The tragic death of a talented 14-year-old musician has led to the creation of a new charity music festival.

The memory of budding guitarist and lead singer for Into Pieces, Lincoln Hawkes, will live on through a newly established event - Lincfest - which will take place at Jubilee Park, Catherington, this weekend (Saturday, July 11) to raise funds for the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance Service and Horndean Parish Council's Local Good Causes Fund.

The one-day festival has been inspired by the teenager, who died on July 7, 2025, after being involved in a car accident in Horndean. One of the six main organisers of the event, Luke Jones, watched Lincoln grow up with Luke’s son, Dexter, who played music alongside the Horndean Technology College student.

He said: “A year ago, my son’s best friend died in a car accident in Horndean. The scene was attended by the air ambulance but sadly they weren’t able to save Lincoln’s life. After Lincoln’s funeral, instead of having a wake, we held Lincfest which was attended by 350 people. There was rock music and when a mosh pit to Teen Spirit broke out with 50 of the students, it felt like we had to do this again because the music started bringing the community together again.

“This event isn’t a memorial to Lincoln because a lot of people in Horndean didn’t know him. It’s born out of the tragedy and is inspired by the boy Lincoln was, but it is about creating an event where everyone can have a brilliant day while raising money for charity.”

The music event will feature 14 acts who will perform across two stages between midday and 10.30pm, with food and drink vendors, traders and activities also onsite.

Luke said the festival, which has been primarily organised alongside Tony Gould, Damien Lodrick, Bethany Lodrick, Sean Burridge and Chris Tate, has been supported by a “raft of people” who have rallied to distribute leaflets and posters in a bid to raise as much money for charity as possible.

He explained “none of us have done this before so it has been a learning curve for everyone”.

The 47-year-old added: “Lincoln was always in my house because he was best friends with my son. He would let himself in and I’d always find him in the fridge. It has been a really tough year of getting through losing someone so young because how do you explain to your son that his best friend has died?

“They met when they were five so they had been best friends for almost a decade. They were best buddies and they shared a love of music. They played at Clanfield Festival on July 5 last year. They were buzzing and had all these big plans for gigs and festivals but sadly it wasn’t meant to be because of what happened two days later.

“He would have loved this sort of thing. He was lead singer and guitarist of Into Pieces. They will be playing with him in mind. If he is out there watching, he will be watching with a big smile on his face. The day after Lincoln passed away, the boys met up at The Farmer and sat where they used to with Lincoln. They laughed and cried for hours and I asked what they wanted to do, and they said they wanted to play music so they went down to Casemates and played for three hours. That music was the glue that kept them together - so I’m really excited for them to do the set as a tribute to him. They could’ve folded and thrown the towel in because it was too hard and too emotional, but they haven’t, they’ve stuck together and played through it.”

Into Pieces are due to take to the main stage at 6.20pm, with Luke anticipating their performance will be an emotional one.

Lincfest, which has already sold about 1,500 tickets, will also be welcoming stunt man and accident prone daredevil, Johnny Fish, who will be climbing down a burning rope suspended almost 100 feet in the air before it snaps.

The Waterlooville dad-of-three, who was previously in the parachute regiment with the military, has worked as a stunt rigger on famous film sets including Star Wars and How to Train Your Dragon.

He said: “I live just down the road from what happened to the young lad last year who inspired Lincfest and I just thought what a lovely gig.

“To be honest, I can’t believe I’m doing it but it’s for such a nice cause so I can’t go back now. It really is a race against the clock and when people hear that, they are shocked. We aren’t sure what’s going to happen - there is no safety net. We’ve been practising lots using different fuels and we have had quite a lot of snappage so I hope it goes well. It’s exciting.”

Johnny Fish is set to undertake his stunt at approximately 9pm.

Tickets for LincFest are £17 for ages 16 and over, and £12 for 15s and under. Click here for more information about the festival.