Apologies in advance if this feature is less than articulate, but I’m still in the midst of jet lag induced delirium and the murk of post-San Francisco depression. Returning to the purgatorial ruins of Stockport has been a difficult transition from the Instagram-filtered, hardbody-abundant utopia of Californ-i-aye. Outside Lands was an amazing time, and not just by virtue of being in the most beautiful city I’ve ever been to. With a line-up that included Kendrick Lamar, D’Angelo & The Vanguard, St. Vincent, Giraffage, and Amon Tobin, only the cynical and tasteless could have had anything approaching a bad time. Actually,…
Author: Michael Baker
In the Corinthians-quoting foreword to this year’s Secret Garden Party programme, Head Gardener Fred Fellowes suggests that childishness is ‘at heart, a natural state’. The festival’s theme for this year, ‘Childish Things’, aimed to return its attendees to that purely joyous sensibility, away from the watchful eyes and castigation of parents, employers, Santa Claus and Theresa May. Sadly this year’s event landed on one of the five sides that read ‘RAIN’ in the dice-roll of British weather, with our climate sort-of-ironically reverting to its own natural state of constantly chucking it down. My colleague had to sleep in the boot…
35,000 revellers ventured down to the remote and idyllic Henham Park for Latitude’s illustrious tenth anniversary last weekend, and it seemed like at least 60% of them were under the age of twelve. Sober footing was an absolute necessity in the pitch black of the post-sunset woodlands, as a misstep in any direction would land your foot on the larynx of a wayward infant. The eclecticism of Latitude’s demographic was outmatched by that of its programming – including but not limited to: music, film, comedy, literature, poetry, lake swimming, massages, canoe rides, kids’ activities, bingo, and secret sets from Thom…
PORTUGAL / SPAIN: The first edition of Iberian Festival Awards, presented in association with APORFEST, will occur on March 3 2016 as part of Talkfest in Lisbon. The gala awards show – set within Lisbon’s FIL Meeting Centre – will celebrate the various successes of the booming Portuguese and Spanish festival industries throughout 2015. Talkfest is the only forum in Portugal that entirely dedicates its programme to discussion on music festivals. Its 5th edition will feature both national and international speakers across conferences, professional & scientific presentations, seminars, documentaries and concerts. In its last four iterations, Talkfest has attracted around…
With a background in advertising, intellectual property, feature films, music promotion, event and talent management, sports marketing, wedding management and literature, it’s safe to say that Shailendra Singh has his fingers (pictured) in an inordinate amount of pies. As the Joint Managing Director of Percept – India’s largest and only entertainment, media and communications conglomerate – he is ensuring that the Indian youth have as many outlets as possible for self-expression. Most relevant of Singh’s many titles is ‘The Inceptor’ of Sunburn Festival, the hyper-successful EDM titan that as far back as the forgotten era of 2013 had claimed its…
Despite the music ostensibly remaining the primary reason most people attend music festivals, there’s often a painful lack of attention given to the quality of onsite sound systems. This is especially true for large open-air stages, where the majority of the audio can be carried away on the wind. Conversely, near-constant exposure to overpowering bass and distorted high frequencies alike often leads to post-event tinnitus for many attendees, whether temporary or permanent. Festival Insights spoke to Pure Groove founder, Damian Murphy and Tom Drew from Pure Groove UK – whose products supposedly circumvent these concerns – about the origins of…
Two rather negative epiphanies dawned on me whilst walking the perimeter of BST Hyde Park. The first was that I’d definitely picked the wrong time to start eating right, what with the litany of amazing eateries onsite – mostly locally sourced. The convenience of being located in central London meant that concessions such as Bad Boy Brownies, who would usually struggle to operate in remote non-metropolitan venues, were able to tempt me into continuing the endless endeavour of making my physique even less impressive. The second realisation was that, considering my violent hay fever, maybe choosing a career that involves…
Professor Chris Kemp is known primarily for his work in crowd management and his ceaseless endeavour to make events safer. As a key member of Yourope Event Safety Group (YES), Chris has been asked to speak on many occasions across the globe on aspects of crowd safety. He addressed the House of Commons Select Committee for Olympic Security on the merits of training for the 2012 Olympic Games, as well as the Royal Society of Medicine. Chris was employed by the HSE as their crowd expert for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Having worked in the music industry…
Now in its 69th year, the practically prehistoric Edinburgh International Film Festival remains synonymous with innovative, cosmopolitan cinema and incisive breakdowns of the medium’s myriad of disciplines. In the past few years alone, the festival has premiered internationally acclaimed films such as A Most Wanted Man, Cold In July, Frances Ha, We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks, The Imposter, Moon, Little Miss Sunshine, Let The Right One In, and The Hurt Locker, amongst others. Aside from its expansive and eclectic film showings, EIFF also comprises an awards ceremony, and endeavours to curate a supplementary programme of educational, industry-facing talks…
Based on concerns expressed by local councillors and residents in the aftermath of 2014’s festival, Parklife conducted a thorough self-assessment of its community impact policies over the past year. Jon Drape, Parklife’s Event Director and MD for Ground Control (which handles the bulk of the festival’s production set-up) discussed their response with us. “In 2013 – our first year at Heaton Park – we put into place what we considered to be a robust community impact plan, in which we’d taken lessons from previous shows held at the site. We received really positive feedback that time round, but last year…