Kim Owens is the owner and editor of Kaffeine Buzz, has a background in IT sales and services digital marketing clients in a variety of vertical markets. An avid festival fan for decades, she spent the last year in the UK and the US interviewing festival organisers and researching event technology for The Connected Festival™ Report. The results of that report will be presented during ‘The Future of Event Tech’ session at the 2015 SXSW Music Conference. In this article, as the title may suggest, she discusses the past, present and the future of festival connectivity. In the words of…
Author: Festival Insights
UK: ArcTanGent’s latest line-up announcement has been handpicked from the very best of the Sargent House roster, including Deafheaven, Mylets, Helms Alee, Marriages and Emma Ruth Rundle. Deafheaven join The Dillinger Escape Plan and 65daysofstatic as headliners of Bristol’s ArcTanGent Festival. Organiser James Scarlett said: “After last year’s partnership with Sargent House (which featured Russian Circles, Tera Melos, And So I Watch You From Afar, Mylets, No Spill Blood and TTNG) we just had to do something again this year. Two of my favourite albums of last year were Deafheaven and Helms Alee so they were absolute no brainers! The…
Chris Haywood is the Managing Director of Topher Ltd. Based in Fleet, Hampshire, and founded in 2007, Topher specialises in providing security, parking and traffic management services to the live events industry. Topher is noted for its core staff base of ex-Gurkhas, who have brought their military training and quiet professionalism to over 200 events in the last seven years, including The Ryder Cup, The Country Life Fair, RHS Wisley Flower Show, Chatsworth Country Fair and RAF Waddington Air Show. In this piece he discusses the importance of professionalism in security and parking services at festivals. Every year millions of…
UK: John Newman and Jessie Ware have been confirmed as headliners for No Tomorrow Festival – set to take place from June 6 – 7 in Wollaton Park, Nottingham. Further acts across the two days include the BRITS 2015 Critics’ Choice Award winner James Bay, Bondax, DJ EZ, Blonde, Philip George, MNEK, Eton Messy, and KStewart. No Tomorrow celebrates the start of the summer season with a party menagerie of weekend wildlife. Set against the backdrop of Wollaton Hall which was used as Wayne Manor in the recent Batman movies, the once peaceful and idyllic setting of Nottingham’s deer park…
UK: Lunar Festival, set in the heart of the English countryside and yet still only 20 minutes from Birmingham, has just announced its live artist headliners and support acts. Lunar is set on the idyllic Umberslade Estate, and runs from June 5 – 7. This intimate, family festival joins the dots across everything from funk, soul and jazz to African sounds, electronic odysseys, indie, pop, rock and more. Headline artists include Tinariwen, Wilko Johnson, Public Service Broadcasting, The Bootleg Beatles (1966 – 1970), Sun Ra Arkestra, The Fall, The Amazing Snakeheads, Julian Cope, BBC Radiophonic Workshop, Allah-Las, Sylvan Esso, Claudio…
NETHERLANDS: ID&T has announced Mysteryland’s evolution from a one-day experience to a two-day event, set for August 29 – 30. By adding an extra day, the festival gives visitors more time and space to enjoy the enormous amount of music, arts, and culture on show. To make the experience complete, guests can stay at the Holy Ground campsite next to the festival area. Tickets will go on-sale March 7 at 10AM (CET). For more information, check out Mysterland’s official website.
BELGIUM: Entrusted with Tomorrowland’s 2nd largest stage for a 4th year running, Dave Clarke will share his undying passion for techno to a sold out crowd of music fans from 220 different countries. Special guests will be announced soon. Clarke commented: “I can’t wait to come back to Belgium and host a stage at the world’s most successful festival.” Last year Dave’s guests included: Green Velvet, Gregor Tresher, Marcel Fengler, Octave One (live), Paul Kalkbrenner (live), Seth Troxler, Pierre, Vitalic (live), and MC Gunner. Tomorrowland 2015 will take place from July 24 – 26 and sold out in a few…
PHILLIPINES: Malasimbo Music & Arts Festival has announced the first acts for its double weekender this March. The fifth birthday celebrations will include musical acts Taylor McFerrin, FKJ, Ky-Mani Marley and GOCOO. Also appearing will be Fred Wesley & The New JB’s, Brigada Noli Aurillo Official, Crwn, DJ Kentaro, Tom Thum, Bleu Rascals, Akasha, Adinkra Lumads Djembe Community, Philippine All Stars, Planet Zips Luminaries, Daloy Dance Company, DJ Mitsu the Beats, To-Ru, HiFaNa, Tetsuji Tanaka & MC Cardz Swindle, Manolet Dario Mikail, Br3aking Silence, Emel Rowe, and Lyrically Deranged Poets. The visual artists present are as follows: Catalina Africa, Agnes…
USA: Every music festival offers fans a chance to get away from it all, but few do this quite so dramatically – or literally – as Jam Cruise and Holy Ship! Produced by Cloud 9 Adventures, these floating festivals serve up hours of live music on the decks of cruise ships plying their way through the warm Caribbean waters to exotic ports of call like Half Moon Bay, Bahamas and Roatán, Honduras. The Design Oasis (Davie, FL) created an engaging environment at both nautical music fests with a lightshow designed by Cris Kuroda that’s anchored by 72 MVP 12 LED…
INDIA: Two days in mid-November saw a unique festival dedicated to stringed instruments take place in New Delhi, India. Featuring acclaimed string musicians from around the world, a DiGiCo SD8 was on hand to tame the dynamics of a wide array of instruments. The festival was founded and is organised by leading Indian violinist Sharat Chandra Shrivastava of world fusion band Mrigya. Its purpose is not only to perform different forms of string music from around the world, but also to showcase stringed instruments which are either rare or whose use has faded into obscurity. “Originally inspired by Indian classical…