Festival

Why have a quarter of The Great Escape’s line up pulled out?
Activism

Why have a quarter of The Great Escape’s line up pulled out?

At least 126 acts have withdrawn from the Brighton festival in protest at the inclusion of Barclays as a sponsor because of the bank's alleged links with atrocities in Gaza, Ben Smoke explains.

Written by: Ben Smoke

Harsh drug policing at festivals is endangering lives
Activism

Harsh drug policing at festivals is endangering lives

Reform now — Tough fines and arrests for drug possession and supply is pushing festival-goers towards unsafe measures to consume or smuggle in their substances, reports Rebecca Tidy.

Written by: Rebecca Tidy

How Brainchild defied the odds with this year’s festival
Culture

How Brainchild defied the odds with this year’s festival

Dancing through the rain — This year, a pandemic and flash floods posed unprecedented challenges for the not-for-profit festival’s organisers – but this did little to dampen the spirits of attendees.

Written by: Ben Smoke and Daisy Schofield

Pure bliss: revisiting the Isle of Wight Festival of August 1969
Culture

Pure bliss: revisiting the Isle of Wight Festival of August 1969

Summer of love — Photographer David Hurn recounts documenting the counterculture music event at the height of the swinging ‘60s, which saw performance from the likes of Bob Dylan, The Who and Joe Cocker.

Written by: Miss Rosen

Halcyon days at an '80s Summer Solstice Festival
Culture

Halcyon days at an '80s Summer Solstice Festival

The wild bunch — Photographer Alan Lodge remembers shooting the mini utopia that was the Stonehenge Free Festival, an event held in the fields surrounding the legendary prehistoric monument.

Written by: Miss Rosen

Yellow Days festival and the power of community
Activism

Yellow Days festival and the power of community

‘It’s love that’s key’ — This year, the grassroots ‘festival without borders’ came to Athens – uniting locals, refugees, and citizens from all over the world.

Written by: Alex King

Remembering the terror and mayhem of Woodstock ’99
Music

Remembering the terror and mayhem of Woodstock ’99

Bad times — Violence, fires and price gouging: two decades on, photographer Mike Schreiber unearths his archive from the festival, revealing a portrait of Gen X at its worst.

Written by: Miss Rosen

Horsing around: a wild weekend at Appleby Fair
Photography

Horsing around: a wild weekend at Appleby Fair

The Travel Diary — Every year, a tiny town in Cumbria, UK, plays host to the Appleby horse fair – the largest gathering of Travellers in Western Europe.

Written by: Stefy Pocket

How the world’s wildest party became a parody of itself
Music

How the world’s wildest party became a parody of itself

The rise & fall of Burning Man — Built as an experiment in radical self-reliance, Burning Man has become a Silicon Valley-sponsored plea to be seen. Art photographer William Binzen, the man behind the festival’s early aesthetic, examines where it all went wrong.

Written by: Amie Knights

What films to catch at this year’s Sheffield Doc/Fest
Film

What films to catch at this year’s Sheffield Doc/Fest

Eight of the best — From Lesbian strip clubs in Los Angeles to Jihadists in Syria: The Director of Film Programming at the acclaimed UK documentary festival picks out his highlights from the 2018 lineup.

Written by: Thomas Curry

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