The Solfest organisation was initially formed in September 2003 when a team of West Cumbrian festival-goers got together and made initial plans to create a festival of their own a little nearer to home. They were quickly joined by other interested parties and Solfest was run by a structured committee of sixteen permanent members until 2010 when the management structure changed. Solfest is now run by a smaller management team.
While Solway Festival Ltd is a registered company, the organisation operates as a social enterprise whereby all surplus income is reinvested into the organisation. Solfest is constituted in such a way that it does not allow any members of the Solfest Committee to make any financial gain from the festival.
The Solfest festival is operated by Solfest Ltd, a registered company. It is run as a constituted social enterprise by unpaid volunteers, and does not have any corporate sponsorship. The first festival took place over the weekend of 3–5 September 2004 on a 26-acre (110,000 m2) site at Tarnside Farm (approximately halfway between the towns of Aspatria and Silloth). About 1,800 people attended the festival in its first year. It currently hosts an annual crowd of up to 10,000 people.
The festival provides a variety of music. It has three large stages (Main stage, Drystone Stage & Bar Stage) as well as a dance tent. The festival also has dedicated welfare areas and children's play areas. Other activities are provided by visiting artists, which range from crafts and woodworking to entertainers and musicians.
Solfest was cancelled in 2014 but returned in 2015. In 2018, organisers initially announced that the 2019 festival would be the last edition of Solfest. This was attributed to falling attendance numbers, especially in 2018, and growing debts. However, organisers cited increased attendance at the 2019 festival in announcing that Solfest is to return in 2020.
Solfest was cancelled in 2020 due to the outbreak of the Coronavirus disease 2019.
In October 2020 it was announced that Arts Council England awarded Solfest £100,000 as part of the Culture Recovery Fund setup in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic.