Festivals: The boutique boomers so be here HAY FEVER
Its highbrow credentials mean that it is rarely perceived in such terms, but the Hay Festival – the annual literary celebration held in the exquisite Welsh border village of Hay-on-Wye – is a genuine trailblazer when it comes to today’s vogue for more eclectic events. Speaking mere days before the
considerably, but a dual-focus on capacity and attractiveness of location is a common thread. Festival No. 6 is a case-in- point. Launching this September with a line-up headlined by New Order and Primal Scream, the festival will take place in Portmeirion – a Welsh coastal village designed and built in an Italianate style during the middle part of the 20th century. The vision of architect Sir Clough Williams- Ellis, Portmeirion’s cult appeal was sealed by its use as the setting for iconic 1960s TV show The Prisoner. As anyone who has wound their way around its streets in a state of awe and mild bemusement will attest, Cooper’s claim that “there is no other festival site like this in
Britain” can be stated with little fear of contradiction. But organisers FN6 are
certainly not placing all their expectations on the eccentric
want to overload the site, but instead we prefer to grow and make a brilliant festival experience for everyone that goes.”
“We’ve always mixed literature, music, comedy, food, politics and the environment – they’ve always seemed complementary interests” Peter Florence, Hay Festival
nature of the location. Starting small and, all being well, growing by minor increments is crucial: “We are only going to sell 50% of our licence capacity [constituting 7,500 tickets] for this year on purpose as we don’t
Unlike Festival No. 6, In The
Woods is no newcomer – this year’s event will be the seventh – but it has prospered on a comparably down-to-earth philosophy. Held at a hush-hush location south of London, the
750-capacity ITW took root when two members of experimental pop outfit Laurel Collective stumbled upon an abandoned clay quarry which, surrounded by trees, formed a natural amphitheatre. Anna Calvi is just one emerging act to have played a festival whose boutique credentials owe much to “a reputation for championing new talent, and supporting up-and-coming acts. This is definitely something that we think helps us stand out from the crowd,” says festival director Tim Adam-Smith.
Although he is confident that the mega, multi-day events will continue to have their place (they “might seem like a lot of money, but actually they’re pretty decent value”), Adam-
2012 edition of Hay delivered a line-up spanning Sir Salman Rushdie and Billy Bragg, festival director Peter Florence is clear about favouring the term ‘bazaar’ over ‘boutique’. “We’ve always mixed literature, music, comedy, food, politics and the environment – they’ve always seemed complementary interests,” he says. Now in its 25th year, Hay is part
of the festival furniture, but the parent organisation is taking no chances in the current climate – ticket prices were reduced this year, and an enhanced marketing effort was geared towards new target audiences. In addition, a fresh live music element was birthed in the form of ‘contemporary and diverse’ area the Sound Castle. The brand’s stature is also being
magnified by selective international expansion, with Hay now operating 15 festivals around the world – most of them in countries “not affected by the US/Euro economy, [such as] Mexico, Colombia, India, Kenya and Lebanon.”