Rod Stewart fans party 160 miles from Glastonbury

Die-hard Rod Stew­art fans who were unable to get tick­ets to see the rock leg­end play at Glas­ton­bury gath­ered to recre­ate the fes­ti­val mag­ic in a hotel 160 miles (257km) away.

More than 100 mem­bers of the Rod Stew­art Fan Club, from all over the UK and Europe, descend­ed on the Sketch­ley Grange Hotel, off the A5 at Hinck­ley, to cel­e­brate their musi­cal hero.

Their three-day Big Week­end event cul­mi­nat­ed in eager fans gath­er­ing round a big screen as Stew­art, 80, took to the stage on Sun­day

“There are so many Rod fans but not all of them could get to Glas­ton­bury,” said organ­is­er Ian Roberts.

So we thought we’d bring Glas­ton­bury to Hinck­ley.”

But this year is spe­cial because Rod is at Glas­to again.

“You can’t get Glas­ton­bury tick­ets for love nor mon­ey so we have come here to recre­ate the vibe.

“I think peo­ple here think it’s even bet­ter than the real thing.

“Rod is a prop­er rock star. He likes a drink, loves his foot­ball, and he likes a lady.”

Among the fans was the rock star’s sis­ter Mary Cady, 96, who is the patron of the fan club.

Her broth­er offered her a tick­et to watch him play at Glas­ton­bury but she opt­ed to join the assem­bled fans in Hinck­ley.

It’s won­der­ful,” she told the BBC.

“Who­ev­er thought he [Stew­art] would have gone on so long? I thought it would just be a flash in the pan.”

Mr Roberts, from Hun­cote in Leices­ter­shire, said: “Mary’s great. She’s so sup­port­ive — and so is Rod. He’s donat­ed his stage clothes in the past for us to auc­tion for char­i­ty.

“We’ve had trib­ute band — peo­ple have got dressed up. There are a few Celtic kits, because Rod is a fan, and some very big wigs.

“Some peo­ple have enough of a bar­net for real to pull it off, mind you.”