UK: Taking place from November 27 – 29, UFest was London’s first ever Youth Culture Festival. Organised exclusively for 14 – 25 year olds, the event was held at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and featured a range of entertainment, including music, dance, photography and film. White Light was asked to provide the equipment for the festival, which allowed UFest to draw on the company’s ever-expanding audio equipment range. UFest was developed by the Foundation for FutureLondon and Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in partnership with Bigga Fish. It utilised the full breadth of the park, with the Aquatic Centre diving…
Author: Festival Insights
SWITZERLAND: Following Intellitix’s cashless success at the SummerDays Festival in Arbon, Switzerland over two consecutive summers, Intellitix and its strategic partner Swisscom Event & Media Solutions will deliver their proprietary cashless payment and access control solutions at next year’s OpenAir St. Gallen festival held from June 30 – July 3. Intellitix’s advanced Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology platform will enhance the event’s previously used cashless payment system, offering more efficient and simpler organisational workflows and processes. The event organisers’ have embraced adoption of Intellitix’s market-tested access control and cashless payment solutions. Chief Financial Officer, Cyril Stadler, was particularly impressed by…
UK: Pangaea Festival – the thrice yearly Manchester-based festival – will undergo a digital revolution this January, drawing on Sonic, Space Invaders and Spyro to celebrate its 10th anniversary with a retro games theme. Featuring 15 stages – or levels – across the entire Students’ Union and Manchester Academy site, almost 6,000 students are expected to attend the festival to round off the January exam season. September’s sold-out festival played host to artists including Example, Wiley, Bipolar Sunshine, So Solid Crew and Levelz – with past performers including the likes of Clean Bandit, Hot Chip, Sister Sledge and London Grammar.…
SPAIN: Since its inception in 2014 the Barcelona based festival Be Prog! My Friend has played host to the likes of Anathema, Devin Townsend, TesseracT, Camel, Meshuggah, Katatonia, Riverside, Isahn and Alcest. Taking place in the beautiful open air surroundings of Poble Espanyol the site is one of the most important landmarks of tourism in Barcelona. By day the Catalonian hotspot is an architectural museum and on the first weekend of July it will play host to some of the world’s finest progressive bands. Sponsored by Metal Hammer and Prog Magazine, 2016 will see Be Prog! My Friend co-headlined by…
UK: Reading & Leeds have announced Red Hot Chili Peppers as the first headliners for 2016, in their only UK festival performance of the summer. Also included in the announcement are The 1975, DJ EZ, Slaves, Rat Boy, Boy Better Know, Courteeners, Crossfaith, Hinds, and Twenty One Pilots. Reading & Leeds organiser Melvin Benn commented: “I’m thrilled to be able to announce Red Hot Chili Peppers as the first headliner for Reading & Leeds 2016, as a festival exclusive. Their incredible live show will be an unforgettable headline performance at the UK’s biggest music festival. We’ve still got some really…
HUNGARY: Sziget Festival has announced the first wave of acts of its 24th edition, set to take place on the Island of Freedom in Budapest from August 10 – 17 2016. The first eight names are: Bring Me The Horizon, John Newman, Kodaline, M83, MO, Naughty Boy, Parov Stelar, Sigúr Ros. Early bird tickets are available till 31st December. The success of last year’s Best European Major Festival seems to continue, as more than 25% of the 2016 Sziget passes have been sold during the first 24 hours of the ticket sales campaign. In 2015 a total of 441.000 Szitizens…
NETHERLANDS: Eurosonic Noorderslag, the key exchange and networking platform for European music, has extended its line-up with no less than 116 new and promising acts. Taking place from January 13 – 16 2016, the festival hopes to attract 3,900 professional delegates, including representatives of over 430 international festivals. Eurosonic Noorderslag presents showcases by more than 300 acts alongside a conference programme featuring 175 panels, keynote speakers, interviews, workshops, dinners, pitches, parties and meetings covering the latest developments in the international music, media and interactive industries. The acts added to the line-up of Eurosonic are: Alex Vargas (DK), Amber Arcades (NL),…
Photos courtesy of Sara Bowrey / Peter Corkhill
NETHERLANDS: Two days of the world’s most gratuitous EDM DJs pulled thousands of music fans into the Amsterdam Arena for the 2015 Amsterdam Music Festival (AMF). This topped off the five day annual Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE) which featured with 350 individual sub-events across 80 venues and clubs in the city. Lighting for this high energy extravaganza was designed by André Beekmans of The Art of Light – leaders of creative light design practice in the Netherlands and working closely with scenic designers 250K for organisers Alda events. Key to making the whole concept come alive as an amazing live…
UK: Henley Festival has announced that Elton John will headline its 2016 edition, which will occur in Henley-on-Thames from July 6 – 10 2016. Tickets will be going on sale to the general public on Monday December 7. Henley Festival, where revellers wear black tie, food is catered by Michelin starred chefs and each night ends in a magical firework display, is one of the UK’s most unique festivals. As a non-camping festival, Henley touts itself as the perfect antidote to watching music in a muddy field, offering festivalgoers a one of a kind festival experience that continues to grow…