WINTERWELL FESTIVAL COMPETITION + INTERVIEW
May 14, 2009,
Written by The 405
It's no secret that as every year passes at least 50 more festivals spring up out of nowhere. To a certain degree that's fantastic but a lot of the time I can't help but feel that there should be a mass consolidation of the generic festivals. If this did happen I can assure you that the beautiful Winterwell Festival would have nothing to worry about.
It's a small festival and relatively unknown but If I was to put together a list of the top 3 festivals to go to this year, Winterwell could quite easily take the crown.
I decided to grill Natalie Vincini (organiser) about the festival so that you can get a better idea about what Winterwell has to offer.
Oh, and did I mention we're giving away 4 pairs of weekend tickets for the festival? All the info will follow the interview!
Firstly could you introduce youself and what the festival is all about?
Winterwell is a small independent festival, held at a secret location in the beautiful Gloucestershire countryside. It’s about good times, great music & amazing people, coming together to creating a really special weekend.
How did it get started and why?
Winterwell grew out of our love for and experience of putting on live music events. If you wanted to throw a party, we think it would be something like Winterwell. Small, unspoilt, wholesome fun. Winterwell is not a festival of big bands and names. It's a festival for great bands and dj's who play for their love of music.
As an invite only festival have you noticed any differences between your festival any other British festivals?
Winterwell is open to everyone who can crack the password but deliberately not advertised as we want the festival to belong to a group of like-minded people and ensure that the atmosphere is maintained. We find word of mouth is the best way to promote it to keep its integrity.
You've got some great bands playing there this year but who do you recommend we should see?
Norman Jay (in fancy dress this time!) is back again for a 2 hour set and will be unmissable. Metronomy, Fanfarlo, Smerins AntiSocial Club, & Sunharbour are also going to be highlights.
As a festival which likes to entertain in more ways than just music, what would you say makes a perfect festival?
I am not sure the perfect festival exists but I think a little effort and creativity goes a long way into making a festival stand out from the crowd. Music is just one part of Winterwell, we have lots of other fun stuff happening to keep people entertained and inspired, world record breaking, 1920’s tearooms, lantern launches,
The fancy dress idea is great. What was the inspiration for it and what will you be dressing up in this year? (I'm looking for tips!)
We toyed with loads of themes (Trash TV, Cartoons, Alice in Wonderland) but this year is the 40th anniversary of the 1st man on the moon which inspired us to pick OUTERSPACE. I’ll be partying as Barbarella but I am expecting lots of fembots, space invaders and chewbacas.
How do you see the future of the festival? Do you have plans for rapid growth or do you plan on keeping fairly small?
Small festivals have such a unique feel so we would never want to grow it to Glasto proportions but a little bigger each year would be nice.
Every year a hundred more festivals appear but what do you think sets you apart from the rest?
We put a lot of effort into making Winterwell unique and think that it shows in the site decoration, the line-up, the crowd, the atmosphere. Plus we have lots of very attractive people in very little clothing, great food, cold beer on tap, fancy dress, clean toilets & free hot showers…
Lastly, on a scale of one to ten, how excited are you about this years festival?
We are totally off the radar this year, excited doesn’t begin to describe it!
Vital Information
Winterwell Website
Password: outerspace
Date: 19-21st of June
Location: Gloucestershire (Secret Location)
Price: £85 (Adult) £25 (Child Under 13) £Free (Child Under 6)
Bands: Animal Kingdom, Fanfarlo, Metronomy, Slow Club and more!
For your chance to win one of 4 pairs of tickets to this years festival all you have to do is sign up to our weekly newsletter!
Names will be picked at random at the beginning of June.
Good Luck!
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1 response so far...
Danny
'A little bigger every year would be nice'
Amen to that!
The idea about it being semi-invite only is a great one; cool interview man.
Jake - 10/03/10
The link is available by clicking on my name for this comment. Not overly happy with the sub-editing, just to cover my own back... :P [view article]
danny - 10/03/10
Yo Jake, where your review at, i'm curious! I think for me what made it stretch to 9/10 was teh fact it's really accessible and just occupies it's own little niche so well right now, I really can't think of a band with another recent release that I could compare them adequately to. Anyway, glad you liked it! [view article]
Rob - 10/03/10
I love how everyone always forgets that this isn't the full lineup by a long shot and a good chunk of the best bands aren't usually announced straight away. [view article]
Jake - 10/03/10
All three are worth a listen to be fair. I wouldn't have stretched quite as far as 9/10 (in fact, I didn't when I reviewed it elsewhere), but it is very good. Dusty Fruit is probably my favourite track (the early version of it, "Don't Trust the Dusty Fruit", is also very good!). [view article]
danny - 10/03/10
Jake, I know what you mean, but if i'd have admitted that it wouldn't have fitted my whole 'difficult second album' bit now would it? ;) [view article]