The Great Escape Festival
The Great Escape | |
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Genre | Rock, alternative rock, indie rock, punk rock, hard rock, dance, techno, electronic, acoustic, hip hop |
Location(s) | Brighton and Hove, England |
Years active | 18 years |
Most recent | 2023 |
Next event | 15–18 May 2024 |
Website | greatescapefestival |
The Great Escape Festival is a four-day music festival held in Brighton and Hove, England every year in May. It is operated by MAMA Festivals and showcases new music[1][2] from a variety of genres. The festival was founded in 2006 and roughly hosts 500 bands across 30 venues throughout the city.[3] It has been likened to South by Southwest.[2][3][4]
There is also a music industry convention section to the event,[2] which is attended by over 4000 delegates. The 2011 to 2022 conferences have been programmed by the team from music industry publication CMU.
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In addition to the main festival, there is also The Alternative Escape, a further strand of 'unofficial' shows.
There was no event in 2020, and the festival was held in 2021 but was entirely online, both due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[5]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/05/TGE_2023_Day_1_-_Coach_Party_%2852891162736%29.jpg/220px-TGE_2023_Day_1_-_Coach_Party_%2852891162736%29.jpg)
In 2024, over half of the lineup signed an open letter to the festival to drop Barclaycard as a sponsor[6][7] due to its involvement in the supply of arms to Israeli military forces.[8][9] Over 163 bands pulled out of the festival in protest, resulting in the opening showcase being cancelled.[10][11]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Petridis, Alexis (15 May 2011). "The Great Escape festival – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
- ^ a b c Price, Simon (15 May 2011). "The Great Escape, Various venues, Brighton". The Independent. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
- ^ a b Sturges, Fiona (14 May 2012). "The Great Escape, Various Venues, Brighton". The Independent. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
- ^ Harley, Kevin (10 May 2013). "Pop festival of the week: The Great Escape, various venues, Brighton". The Independent. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
- ^ Richards, Will (12 May 2021). "The Great Escape 2021: 10 unmissable artists to catch at the virtual new music showcase". NME.
- ^ "Dozens more artists join Great Escape 2024 boycott, as half the line-up demands festival drop Barclays sponsor in solidarity with Palestine". NME. 17 April 2024.
- ^ Forrest, Ben (5 April 2024). "Calls to boycott The Great Escape Festival over controversial sponsorship deal". Far Out Magazine.
- ^ "Barclays: Don't Bank on Apartheid". Palestine Campaign.
- ^ "'Thousands in UK close Barclays accounts' over bank's ties to Israeli military suppliers". Arab News. 20 March 2024.
- ^ Bakare, Lanre (14 May 2024). "More than 100 acts quit Great Escape music festival in solidarity with Palestine". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
- ^ Coady-Stemp, Emily (17 May 2024). "Acts pull out of festival over Israel-Gaza conflict". BBC. Retrieved 20 May 2024.