Farm festival
| Location(s) | Bruton, Somerset, England |
|---|---|
| Years active | 2006-present |
| Date(s) | traditionally, the last weekend in July, 2011 Date: 29/30 July |
| Website | farmfestival.co.uk |
Farm Festival is an annual two-day music festival held near Bruton, Somerset, England. The festival retains a very rustic feel with no corporate sponsorship and has increased in popularity since its inaugural event in 2006, with mentions in several national newspapers including The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph as well as inclusion in The Sunday Times "Top 100 Music Festivals" in 2009.[1]
The festival organisers make a donation to Practical Action and local causes each year from the event's proceeds.
[edit] Festival history
Farm Festival (née FarmFest) began in 2006 when a group of young men and women a "crack team of young locals and a handful of Londoners - all amateurs"[2] came together to organise a festival of their own.
The first Farm Festival was held on the land of one of the team members, near Pilton, Somerset. It wasn't advertised widely and mainly relied on social networking websites (mainly MySpace) to draw potential attendees. The event was funded and operated by the team themselves and drew a crowd in the lower hundreds. During the event, a local farmer (who was attending the event, serving his own organic food), offered the use of his own land, near Bruton, Somerset as a more suitable venue for the event. The original 2006 site posed many difficulties for organisers and visitors alike with its extremely rural location and its lack of suitable access. The event has been held at Gilcombe Farm each year since.
[edit] Music, art and food at the Festival
The festival does not favour one specific genre of music and tends to promote all types of signed as well as unsigned bands & artists including DJ's. Several acts that have appeared at the festival have gone on to greater fame, notably Friendly Fires & SixNationState. There are usually 2 stages (a main stage and an acoustic tent), in 2008 another tent was added playing dub music.
During the festival there are generally displays of performing or visual arts as well as features such as miniature golf courses, tea-parties and stalls selling a range of alternative arts and unusual items. The festival also adopts a "Hats Compulsory" policy. During the weekend, there is organic food (including vegetarian and vegan) from Glicombe Farm on sale as well as local cider which is at very reasonable price compared to larger, commercial festivals. The Sunday Times referred to Farm Festival as "The Bargain of the Festival Season" [3], referring to the low ticket and refreshment prices.
[edit] References
- ^ http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/festivals/article6282052.ece The Sunday Times Top 100 Music Festivals
- ^ About Page, Farm Festival website
- ^ http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/festivals/article6282052.ece The Sunday Times Top 100 Music Festivals
