29 July 2010

Festival, noun. 1‘A period or program of festive activities, cultural events, or entertainment.’ 2‘Gaiety; revelry; merrymaking.’

Dictionary definitions aside, what does the word conjure up for you? Each festival can be an intensely personal experience for each festivalgoer – yet at the same time, I think a festival is the closest we can get nowadays to something that feels like a genuine collective experience we can all share in. On some vague, cosy level I feel connected not only to the friends I went with, but also to the thousands of people I never met who were at the same festivals as me – because we were all there and all experiencing and contributing to the utterly infectious atmosphere of a great, memorable event. In a conversation with a stranger, the discovery that you were both at the same festival in the same year is a discovery of a shared interest, a shared experience – they just know.

Words: Steph Robinson
Pics: Will PooleGlade 2007, were you – the mud! Oh my – yes! Unlike your politely nodding and smiling non-festival friends (fools) who have to feign interest in every post-festival tale, you don’t have to try and convince a festival-goer what it’s all about. They already get it, just as you got it when you first found yourself dancing outdoors in the cool night air in a huge, happy crowd at your first festival, indulging in that primal, instinctive urge to get together and stomp your feet on the earth whilst the bass vibrates through the ground and up into your body, everybody’s body, and every body is moving in rhythm together, and as you and the stranger next to you grin at each other, your heart pumps and you’ve got your finger on the collective pulse and – you really feel part of something…

Or that’s what I think anyway. People go to a lot of different festivals for a lot of different reasons, but in the end we’re all there to have a Good Time. Yet what does that consist of? In ancient cultures, it was usually a religious celebration of sorts, though the word ‘festival’ wasn’t actually used as a noun until 1589, the first time it appeared as a written word. Back then, it mostly consisted of feasting, the aforementioned merrymaking, and a chance for the elders of a particular culture to share stories and pass on knowledge to the next generation… I think this last aspect still exists today actually, as those of you will know who have ever been cornered by a crusty old hippy at a festival stall, eager to press upon you how bloody fantastic Woodstock was… even though he wasn’t technically there, but it didn’t matter man, because he really felt like he was there and part of it all, and that was the important bit… But since those ‘3 Days of Peace and Music’ in a small rural town in New York State, the music festival landscape has changed dramatically and continues to do so.

The boutique festival market has exploded, with new small festivals constantly emerging that target a specific audience demographic and musical taste. Whilst this means there’s certainly more variety out there, this pattern has its problems too.
There are too many events
out there right now..."“There are too many events out there right now,” says Nick Ladd, one of the founders of Glade festival. “It’s the bandwagon effect - and that combined with the uncertain weather and economic slowdown meant a lot of promoters got a big hit in the wallet [last summer].” Yet it can, in some cases, create a climate in which the alternative festival can thrive. Fred Fellowes, one of the Head Gardeners at Secret Garden Party, agrees that the last couple of years have been difficult for many events, “But I think 2008 showed one thing above all else; the rise of the independents. Events such as Glade, Bestival and Lovebox all showed real form and a true alternative to the hulking behemoths of V Festival, Reading and the like.”

A desire to create a festival alternative to the larger mainstreams ones such as Reading and Leeds was something echoed by many festival organisers we spoke to. Often, it came down to the simple fact that they weren’t seeing the kind of festivals they would like to go to – so they created their own. “I think to be honest we were partying all over the world and then coming back home and not really finding a gig that lifted our lids,” says Ladd. “So we thought we'd stick one on and see if anyone else felt the same way.” And evidently someone else did feel the same way; 10,000 people in fact, as is the capacity for 2009’s Glade festival.

Now, Glastonbury (where the Glade Stage was born) is an interesting one. It certainly has its hippy origins and its founder Michael Eavis was inspired to create it after seeing an open-air Led Zeppelin concert, but last year nearly 200,000 people attended and one of the headliners was a massive hip-hop artist. Some Glasto purists say it’s gotten too big and hasn’t stayed true to its original ethos, but perhaps we should be praising Eavis for evolving with the times and making bold decisions; putting Jay-Z on the bill was cited as one of the reasons there were still unsold tickets the day before the event, but it turned out to be roaring success story (take note, Oasis et al).

It seems there is a delicate balance that festival organisers have to find, between selling out and catering to a growing festival following. With regards to the small, alternative festivals, popularity appears to be a double-edged sword; it can draw in the right audience demographic and attract financial investment which then enables the festival to achieve things previously not possible – but it can also drag a small boutique festival into the mainstream, where the originthereal mission statement can be forgotten and the wrong crowd begin arriving as the festival keeps on expanding. Yet Fellowes insists that going mainstream is “not the only way” for a festival to go if it becomes more popular, ...going mainstream is “not the only way”
for a festival to go if it becomes more popularand Ladd agrees that becoming mainstream does not have to go hand in hand with being a popular festival. “There are a lot of people in the UK and the dance music scene here is very mature,” he says. “So there are lots of niches full of cool people who are looking for something quirky with soul and spirit… something with more imagination.”

Imagination is, I think, the real key to a creating a fan-bloody-tastic festival – something that sets that event apart from the rest, something that shows that time and effort has gone into crafting aspects of a festival that can be memorable, beautiful, powerful, or downright hilariously silly. For me, during last year’s festival season, it was the pirate ship in the middle of the lake at Secret Garden Party being set on fire with burning arrows, whilst clouds of glowing lanterns were released into the night sky. For Fellowes, it was the ‘King of the Daves’ competition at SGP. Ladd says it was “watching a bloke wearing a wedding dress dive through the window of the inflatable church [at Glade], to avoid having to kiss his mate who he’d just got married to…”

But more importantly, what do we all have to look forward to at this summer’s festivals? Personally I’m already really excited at the prospect of seeing Underworld live again, this time at Glade’s new and apparently improved home in Winchester. We’ve also got Orbital at Big Chill, which will undoubtedly be very special – plus not to mention Acidic Records’ own Cellardore performing at the small but beautifully formed Wonderland festival, which is held in aid of Cancer Research UK. There’s also a whole crowd of lesser known festivals that I’d like to get the chance to explore like Workhouse and Offworld – and even though this year the Earthdance Prayer For Peace won’t coincide with Waveform festival, I’m still hoping I can make it there for more gigantic 60ft laser shows and disgustingly good psybreaks.

Whichever festivals you end up at this summer for whatever reasons, may God be on your side and may you neither suffer biblical storms and mud, nor forget thy wellies… and may you enjoy a hell of a lot of gaiety, revelry, and merrymaking. Happy festivalling!

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