Music festivals in their purest form have pretty much hit a glass ceiling. The multitude of personality-defunct commercial weekenders with nothing to offer but ubiquitous, terminally mediocre guitar bands demonstrates that the industry lacks growth in both ideas and ticket sales. The only way for them to innovate is to assimilate other mediums, which in turn calls into question their own strict designation. If interactive art exhibits, panel talks, film showings and gourmet cuisine are actively touted as a part of the proceedings then isn’t the term ‘music festival’ both reductive and obsolete? Still in its infancy however, and enjoying…
Author: Michael Baker
UK: Aside from the fate that befell the crew of the Mary Celeste, the identities of the Loch Ness Monster and Jack the Ripper, and the origin of the Wow! Signal, the greatest entirely inexplicable mystery to confound humankind is why festival organisers seem to think that booking Kasabian, Metallica – or God forbid – anything remotely EDM-associated still makes for an interesting event. Also, has anyone ever considered that the Loch Ness Monster and Jack the Ripper were the same dude? Proliferating internationally as an alternative to those who champion the aggressive mediocrity of the Sam Smiths, Ed Sheerans…
The term ‘metropolitan festival’ is often a synonym for ‘multiple physically and stylistically disparate club venues temporarily united under a largely meaningless banner.’ Contrary to this trend is Iceland’s edition of Sónar Festival, whose entire proceedings occur in Reykjavik’s Harpa concert hall, the nation’s bastion of symphonic music. The decision to complete construction on the building in February 2009 came amidst fairly severe austerity measures and followed the collapse of the Icelandic bank set to put forth a large share of the funding. The Icelandic people actually considered leaving the structure unfinished at this point, to serve as a monument…
UK: It’s difficult to summarise everything Joseph Peace does in one sentence; the only way to neatly put him in a box is if the box is on fire and he’s wearing frilly golden shorts. The polymath pyromancer touts himself as a stuntman, photographer, engineer, sculptor, and DJ – crafts that he’s exercised at numerous international festivals including Glastonbury and Burning Man. His unique combination of talents and love of festivals has also led him to become the Creative Design Manager for Boomtown Fair’s Devil Kicks Dancehall stage. Festival Insights discussed with Joseph his original impetus for becoming a stuntman,…
UK: In a stark contrast to the standard burger vans of yore, festival catering has become an astonishingly heterogeneous affair. Epitomising this heterogeneity – and challenging the ‘hetero’ part in the process – are Camp Cooks, a team of cuisine-slinging drag queens whose eclectic menus are complemented by cabaret, retro soundtracks, audience participation, and a colossal side-serving of innuendo. Festival Insights interviewed Wynnie la Freak – founder of Camp Cooks – to discuss their multi-faceted extravagant offerings, as well as their desire to fill your mouth with as much meat as possible. They do veggie options and desserts too by…
NETHERLANDS: Groningen’s De Oosterpoort hosted two prestigious, simultaneous industry events from January 13 – 17: The European Festival Awards and Eurosonic Noorderslag. The former celebrated the achievements of many of the European festival circuit’s greatest innovators and pioneers, whereas the latter showcased emerging talent and held comprehensive conferences on issues pertinent to the festival and music sectors. Punctuating the spaces in between the Ben Challis-hosted Awards were intense performances from Danish electro-pop sensation MØ, the UK-based tour de force Jack Garratt, and Norwegian singer-songwriter Aurora Asknes. Despite how incredible these acts were, none could hope to match the preternatural $wagger…
EUROPE: Ahead of the European Festival Awards and Eurosonic Nooderslag in Groningen (NL) next week, the former has released the European Festival Market Report for 2014. The data comes courtesy of the 2014 European Festival Market Census, the biggest market research survey ever conducted in the pan-European festival market, with more than 35,000 festival-goers taking part across 35 different European countries. Everyone who voted in this year’s European Festival Awards – which doubled last year’s turnout with a record-breaking 1.2 million votes cast – was entitled to participate in the Census. Tickets for the European Festival Awards can still be…
UK: Touted as a ‘complete event platform’, Nutickets’ app addresses as many needs of the festival organiser as possible without being hyper-sentient and having Scarlett Johansson’s voice. Already working with Ultra South Africa, Holi Festival of Colours, Rage Festival, Rocking the Daisies, Holi One, and Festibelly – the relatively young company is already amassing an impressive number of international clients. Festival Insights caught up with Lisa Murgatroyd – the mastermind of Nutickets’ Business Development and Marketing – to discuss the ridiculously extensive capabilities that Nutickets’ software offers. Festival Insights: It’s difficult to summarise everything Nutickets offers in a single sentence,…
UK: Following a record-breaking response and an impossible level of caffeine intake on our part, the sold-out UK Festival Awards and Conference respectively celebrated and incisively analysed the state of the UK festival industry, with only a couple of snafus along the way. And I’m grateful for said snafus, because I just got to use the word ‘snafu’ three times in the space of two sentences. In spite of some technical hiccups involving onstage monitoring and fickle microphones, the Conference sessions managed to provoke comprehensive and engaging discussion on various issues pertinent to the industry. The Pills, Thrills & Keeping…
CANADA: I’m sure we can all agree that admin work is somewhat akin to the Sixth Circle of Hell, and this must be especially true for the lucid nightmare that is festival organisation. Traditionally, keeping track of artists, concessions, catering, sponsors, volunteers, press, and their plethora of various needs has probably contributed to around 45% of Amazonian deforestation with the amount of paper required. Luckily, Marcato has created a web-based management system to assuage the multitudinous worries of festival organisers, ensuring that by the end of the festival their hair hasn’t become as thin as a single mum’s gravy. Festival…