The LGBT-centric Milkshake Festival will host its sixth edition from July 29 – 30 in Amsterdam’s Westerpark. A vibrant and provocative celebration of both queer culture and cultural heterogeneity, Milkshake 2017 promises to shake up the festival’s format in characteristic fashion whilst maintaining its inclusive and extraordinarily friendly atmosphere. Insights spoke with Marieke Samallo, Director of Milkshake Festival, about the event’s predilection for collaboration, what to expect from the upcoming outing, and more. Festival Insights: Milkshake was launched in Amsterdam as a collaborative venture between AIR and Paradiso six years ago. What brought you together to launch the festival, and…
Author: Festival Insights
CROATIA: Dimensions will launch an eponymous record label on July 14 with an eclectic 12-track compilation featuring Byron The Aquarius, Mim Suleiman, Mike Dehnert, Marcos Cabral, Obsolete Music Technology and more. Led by Dimensions Soundystem’s David Martin and Andy Lemay, the aim of Dimensions Recordings is to provide an outlet to release music they love, whether it’s abstract jazz explorations or cosmic techno. Providing a platform for newcomers and veterans alike, Dimensions Recordings will reflect the vast tastes, influences and motivations of the team. The Dimensions brand originally started as a Croatian festival six years ago and now also encompasses…
UK: The Hebridean Celtic Festival will utilise augmented reality to bring the event closer to its audience this year. The technology will allow people across the world to interact with the HebCelt using their smart phone or tablet. Visitors to this year’s HebCelt, which takes place from July 19 – 22 in Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis, will be able to use the technology on-site. Those unable to attend the festival can also head online to experience aspects of the event, which is being headlined by The Waterboys, Imelda May, Dougie MacLean and Lucy Spraggan. By downloading a free…
HONG KONG: Clockenflap, Hong Kong’s biggest annual music and arts festival, has started the countdown to this year’s 10th anniversary event by announcing the first wave of acts for its line-up. Set against the famous Hong Kong skyline, Clockenflap will continue its tradition of honouring the unique ‘East-meets-West’ history of the city this year with a meticulously curated line-up that promises to encompass international, regional and local artists. The first announcement features four Asian festival exclusive performances, two special sets, and nine Hong Kong debut appearances. Set to close the festival on Sunday with their full live show, Massive Attack…
UK: Leading train operator London Midland is to be the headline partner of Liverpool International Music Festival’s fifth outing, taking place from July 20 – 23. The partnership brings LIMF together with one of the rail industry’s most notable supporters of arts and entertainment. Last year the Liverpool International Music Festival attracted over 160,000 music lovers, cementing Liverpool’s reputation as a tourist destination and establishing LIMF as one of the city’s eminent voices via its an experimental but accessible programme. For its fifth anniversary, LIMF will welcome acts such as Naughty Boy, Becky Hill, Fleur East and more to Sefton…
MEXICO: Corona Sunsets returned to Tulum, Mexico on June 17 for a daylong programme of electronic dance music in idyllic surroundings. The festival saw the country’s first outing for Vero – Funktion-One’s vertically arrayable loudspeaker system. Sound for the event was supplied and managed by Loto Audio – Funktion-One’s distributor for Mexico. Funktion-One founder, John Newsham, flew out to help with set-up for Corona Sunsets and to provide Vero training for the Loto Audio team. Loto Audio has placed an order for its own Vero system, which will be delivered in July. For Corona Sunsets, the Vero system was shipped…
UK: Bluedot has partnered with the social video platform Twitch to live stream content from across the festival to the site’s 10 million daily visitors from July 7 – 9. The partnership kicks off at this year’s bluedot festival, which sees artists alt-J, Orbital and Andrew Weatherall live streamed across the weekend. Twitch will handle production of both the in-house video and the live stream of key performances and content. Since launching in 2011, Twitch has evolved its reputation as the world’s leading social video platform and community for video game culture to now encompass an array of emerging content…
UK: Boomtown has announced that it will take an ‘all-encompassing’ approach to drugs policy at this year’s event, which takes place from August 10 – 13 at the Matterley Estate in Hampshire. The sold out 60,000 capacity festival will aim to increase drug awareness and promote harm reduction through a variety of methods, including substance testing with The Loop, the provision of trained drug counsellors at each of the campsite hubs, and pre-event awareness campaigns. After making its debut last year at Kendal Calling and Secret Garden Party, 2017 has seen The Loop invited to many more festivals, with Boomtown…
Fred Letts founded Percolate in 2012 with a group of his best friends. He ran the club nights on the side of his advertising job until 2014, when he left to pursue a career in throwing parties on a full-time basis. Percolate now boasts a fully-fledged team of seven dedicated music fanatics, plus a long-suffering accountant (who is also a music fanatic). When I founded Percolate in 2012 I never imagined that five years later we would be planning our first festival-scale event under the same banner. I always had a vision to expand it; I just didn’t know where…
UK: The teams behind Media Insight Consulting (MIC), the International Live Music Conference (ILMC) and IQ Magazine have announced the launch of the Live Data Agency, a joint venture specialising in big data analysis, consumer research and economic modelling for the live music business. LDA is spearheaded by music business economist Chris Carey, who was formerly Global Insight Director at Universal Music Group and Senior Economist at PRS for Music. “With an overwhelming amount of information available to the live music business, the challenge is knowing where to start,” he said. “Our aim is to help companies use the data…