| Welcome to
Venue’s fabulous festival guide
2009 was another difficult year for the humble British festival. Less than clement weather, bully boy licensing restrictions and the tail end of the recession saw many community events and even the odd heavyweight fall by the wayside - just look at Woolfire, Beachdown, Big Green Gathering and Bloom. Rest in peace.
But with the tottery economic situation finding some firm ground and the weathermen promising us the hottest summer ever (although they said that last year), 2010 looks like it might signal a return to the good times. And in these acrimonious days of dissatisfaction with big corporate endeavours, it might also herald a new era for independently minded events: alongside longstanding pioneers like The Big Chill and WOMAD, many events are moving beyond adolescence and celebrating 10 years of success. Happy anniversary to Blissfields, Frome Festival, Bloodstock, Summer Sundae Weekender et al. Be sure to take some tin for their tenth anniversary celebrations.
Old or new, though, the choice on offer is as broad as ever, and with the aid of this guide to lead you through the bewildering array of punter-hungry events, you should have no drama finding your perfect fest. So, all you extravagantly-maned metallers and well-preened popsters, restless ravers and fiddling folksters, be-quiffed new wavers and chin-stroking jazzers - here’s to a bumper festival season. Bon chance and god speed.
Ben Welch
Editor
A message from
our sponsor…
The Invisible Circus relocated to Bristol from London in 2005 and founded the Artspace Lifespace Project in 2007 after the success of The Bristol Arts Trade Centre, a short-term project which took over an ex-car garage complex and transformed it into a multi-use creation centre and performance venue in Stokes Croft.
The two companies work in partnership to recycle unusual sites into dynamic creative spaces. The Circus stage a variety of productions in these spaces, from intimate theatrical experiences to full-blown circus spectaculars. Artspace then manage the use of the space by the broader creative community once it has been made operational.
In 2007 the project took over the Pro Cathedral in Clifton and transformed the crumbling grade I-listed site into a two auditorium performance and exhibition space for Revelations, a four-month festival programme hosting a wide spectrum of events, from multi-media and visual arts to theatre and circus presentations.
With the support of Ruth Essex from BCC arts dept, the project then negotiated a deal with Urban Splash to take over the ex-police, fire and law courts complex Bridewell Island in Bristol city centre. The Island has been an operational creation centre for the past two years, hosting a wide variety of arts events as well as housing training spaces, rehearsal rooms, recording studios and individual artist’s workshops.
Venue has always supported our mission here in Bristol and we have in return advertised events through the magazine. We decided to be the Festival Guide’s sponsor this year as we have been granted a six-month extension here at the Island so will have a lot of different events and shows coming up to advertise, all helping offset the costs of such a huge site.
Another factor is, of course, where we go from here. We feel we have proved ourselves over the past five years and delivered a series of successful projects working in very challenging spaces with extremely limited resources. Part of our campaign for 2010 is to gather more support for our cause and new clients with new spaces for us to continue our work in.
Invisible Circus
www.artspacelifespace.com
www.invisiblecircus.co.uk
www.theislandbristol.co.uk |
