The Sleepy Lagoon Orchestra is a Vintage 1930s and 40s Dance Band. Formed in 2018 to celebrate the works of 1920s & 30s band leader Jack Hylton. The band continue to play his pieces today, in a lively packed set of charts encouraging audiences to tap their toes and get up and dance.

We are located in Chichester with our name coming from Eric Coates piece 'By the Sleepy Lagoon', made famous from BBC Radio 2's Desert Island Discs. Coates had a house in Selsey, just south of Chichester, when he wrote 'By the Sleepy Lagoon'. "It was inspired by the view on a warm, still summer evening looking across the "lagoon" from the east beach at Selsey towards Bognor Regis.... the sea at that time is an incredibly deep blue of the Pacific. It was that impression, looking across at Bognor, which looked pink, almost like an enchanted city with the blue of the South Downs behind it, that gave him the idea for the Sleepy Lagoon".

The Bands early days started off as a Salon Orchestra playing light music and Orchestral works such as Strauss Waltzes. Shortly after this, we discovered a large Library of Dance band and Swing music that things started to progress to the band and success we have today!

Since the bands premiere concert featuring the music of Jack Hylton, conducted by Pete faint, the band has gone from strength to strength, traveling across the south coast as well as into Europe and the Channel Islands. The Sleepy Lagoon Orchestra has since been a successful hire band for many charity concerts, garden parties and local festivals.

For several years the band has performed at the Winner's Enclosure for Goodwood's Festival on Speed, with some famous faces stopping to listen such as Tom Cruise and Jackie Stewart. The band also performed at the Goodwood Revival Ball, a private ball for the big names of motorsport and well known personalities, such as Jenson Button, Rowen Atkinson, Ollie Murs, and Jason Mamoa to name a few. The 2021 Revival Ball's theme was a 1940s film set with dancers and actors creating the scene of a Film shoot taking place. Who better than The Sleepy Lagoon Orchestra to be the musical backdrop.

In the winter of 2021 we also created Sleepy Lite. The band still playing the great hits of The Sleepy Lagoon Orchestra but at a smaller capacity to fit smaller venues and tighter budgets for hired events. 

The end of 2023 saw us perform in Torquay at the Riviera Swing. A three-day weekend celebrating the very best the 1930s & 40s had to offer. With a packed Ballroom we entertained as the crowd danced the night away to the very best music the band has to offer. Our vocal group, the Lagunas, were a hit and loved by all! The guests stayed on the dance floor eager for the next number, something we were told never happens! A return for 2024 has already been booked and countless CD requests has meant we have a recording session in the works.