From Glasto to ‘Camden-on-Sea': the best of the festivals
As some summer events pull the plug, others are still offering the chance for revellers to make memories
Thursday, 27th June 2024 — By Dan Carrier
WET weather, spiralling production costs and punters who are not sure about committing hundreds of pounds for what is an extended weekend camping break, has raised questions over whether the UK’s annual love-in with the festival industry might have come to an end.
Even those that have dedicated and loyal followings have suffered: the ever popular Shindig Festival, which takes place in Dorset, has announced 2024 was its final outing. Others pulled the plug on the basis of tricky conditions in 2023.
Standon Calling, in Hertfordshire, were unable to make good a series of financial obligations from last summer’s event – and asked ticket holders if they would hold over their passes to be used in 2025 instead of getting a refund.
But while there has been plenty of worried words from such staples, the stalwarts of the festival scene know there is a market out there, with huge acts and plenty of unknowns worthy of performing, and lots of summer weekends to squeeze them into.
And while the boom of new festivals claiming to be unique, boutique parties may have come to a temporary standstill, passionate promoters are creating events which, as ever, will make memories for ticket holders. Here are three of the best…
The big one: Glastonbury
The demand for tickets for the grand dame of festivals, Glastonbury, remains unstoppable: with entry costing £360, it still sold every one of its 250,000 tickets in a matter of hours. And if you were one of the lucky ones who are heading down to Somerset this week, there is plenty of Camden in place to make it a home from home.
Glastonbury has two massive headliners on the Pyramid Stage who know our beat well. On the pyramid stage, pop sensation Dua Lipa is down to perform as the headliner on Friday night. The former Fitzjohns and Parliament Hill School pupil has found her status elevated in recent months to genuine global name status.
Little Simz, from Islington, is also on the Pyramid bill, while Kentish Town is represented on the discerningly curated West Holts stage by the singer-songwriter Michael Kiwanuka. Another Islingotn name, Paloma Faith, appears on Sunday.
Elsewhere, Highgate-based Bernard Butler, who played guitar in Britpop band Suede, is on the acoustic stage, while the London Gospel Community Choir can be heard on the same stage on the same day.
Away from music, in the Speakers’ Forum field, Dartmouth Films – named after the Dartmouth Park area, where the founders live – present their documentary about the writer Josh Appignanesi discovering that the climate crisis is a real thing and how he has to manage his giant and horrible ego in the face of possible mass extinction. The film is presented by producer Christo Hird.
www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk Sold out, but you can watch it live throughout the weekend on BBC2.
The small one: Houghton Festival
HE founded Fabric and if anyone can be called the originator of Tech House then surely Islington-based DJ and producer Terry Francis is it.
His legendary Wiggle parties have been going strong for more than 25 years, and Terry has come to epitomise modern UK house.
He is bringing his unique blend of sounds to the best dance music festival happening at the moment – the renowned Houghton, held in August in Suffolk.
Another north London legend, Electric Elvis, appears: real name Nathan Hernando, he founded Wang, a seminal north London party that broke scores of new DJs playing original sets that brought together electro, techno and a wave of new electronica that was completely genre bending. Houghton is known for its bespoke sound systems and hidden stages with an added mile of decor and effects in a rambling site that begs to be explored.
The foreign one: Hideout
THE Hideout festival has become Camden-on-Sea: hosted on a beach in Zrce, Croatia, it prompts an exodus for young north Londoners, with an extraordinary 50 per cent of all tickets sold to the 10,000-capacity event to people in Camden and surrounds. It truly has become a trendy, post-exam version of Reading for those who want guaranteed sun and dance music.
EDM fans flock to enjoy sound systems on the beach, boat parties during the day, and a genuinely affordable holiday with Croatia’s gloriously unspoilt coastline to soak up – and are joined by London neighbours behind the decks.
Garage producer and DJ Ahadadream is a big Arsenal fan and is based in Islington. He headlines and plays across the festival’s five days of all-day, all-night basslines.
Alongside him is the drum and bass producer DJ Lazcru. Farringdon based, he represents a new wave of DnB DJs who are composing music that takes the genre back to its original sounds, drawing on London reggae styles and a sound effects board that never stops surprising.
And Hideout’s DJs are always complemented by live acts and MCs. For the older raver, MC Ad is a familiar voice: he began on pirate radio stations in 1994, including stints on Dance FM and Centreforce.
MC AD earned residencies at The Rocket on Holloway Road before doing the same at the Astoria. A US tour with DJ Hype saw him break the States, and on his return he was given another residency, this time at Fabric in Farringdon.
