Farm festival
Encyclopedia
Farm Festival is an annual two-day music festival
held near Bruton
, Somerset
, England
. The festival retains a very rustic feel with no corporate sponsorship and has increased in popularity since its inaugural event in 2006, with mentions in several national newspapers including The Guardian
and The Daily Telegraph
as well as inclusion in The Sunday Times
"Top 100 Music Festivals" in 2009.
The festival organisers make a donation to Practical Action
and local causes each year from the event's proceeds.
The first Farm Festival was held on the land of one of the team members, near Pilton, Somerset
. It wasn't advertised widely and mainly relied on social networking websites (mainly MySpace
) to draw potential attendees. The event was funded and operated by the team themselves and drew a crowd in the lower hundreds.
During the event, a local farmer (who was attending the event, serving his own organic food
), offered the use of his own land, near Bruton
, Somerset
as a more suitable venue for the event. The original 2006 site posed many difficulties for organisers and visitors alike with its extremely rural location and its lack of suitable access. The event has been held at Gilcombe Farm each year since.
& SixNationState
. There are usually 2 stages (a main stage and an acoustic tent), in 2008 another tent was added playing dub music
.
During the festival there are generally displays of performing or visual arts as well as features such as miniature golf courses, tea-parties and stalls selling a range of alternative arts and unusual items. The festival also adopts a "Hats Compulsory" policy. During the weekend, there is organic food
(including vegetarian and vegan) from Glicombe Farm on sale as well as local cider
which is at very reasonable price compared to larger, commercial festivals. The Sunday Times referred to Farm Festival as "The Bargain of the Festival Season" , referring to the low ticket and refreshment prices.
Music festival
A music festival is a festival oriented towards music that is sometimes presented with a theme such as musical genre, nationality or locality of musicians, or holiday. They are commonly held outdoors, and are often inclusive of other attractions such as food and merchandise vending machines,...
held near Bruton
Bruton
Bruton is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated on the River Brue seven miles south-east of Shepton Mallet, just south of Snakelake Hill and Coombe Hill, ten miles north-west of Gillingham and twelve miles south-west of Frome in the South Somerset district. The town has a...
, Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The festival retains a very rustic feel with no corporate sponsorship and has increased in popularity since its inaugural event in 2006, with mentions in several national newspapers including The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
and The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
as well as inclusion in The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
"Top 100 Music Festivals" in 2009.
The festival organisers make a donation to Practical Action
Practical Action
Practical Action is a development charity registered in the United Kingdom which works directly in four regions of the developing world – Latin America, East Africa, Southern Africa and South Asia, with particular concentration on Peru, Kenya, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka and Nepal.In these countries,...
and local causes each year from the event's proceeds.
Festival history
Farm Festival (née FarmFest) began in 2006 when a group of young men and women a "crack team of young locals and a handful of Londoners - all amateurs" came together to organise a festival of their own.The first Farm Festival was held on the land of one of the team members, near Pilton, Somerset
Pilton, Somerset
Pilton is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated on the A361 road in the Mendip district, 3 miles south-west of Shepton Mallet and 6 miles east of Glastonbury. The village has a population of 935...
. It wasn't advertised widely and mainly relied on social networking websites (mainly MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
) to draw potential attendees. The event was funded and operated by the team themselves and drew a crowd in the lower hundreds.
During the event, a local farmer (who was attending the event, serving his own organic food
Organic food
Organic foods are foods that are produced using methods that do not involve modern synthetic inputs such as synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers, do not contain genetically modified organisms, and are not processed using irradiation, industrial solvents, or chemical food additives.For the...
), offered the use of his own land, near Bruton
Bruton
Bruton is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated on the River Brue seven miles south-east of Shepton Mallet, just south of Snakelake Hill and Coombe Hill, ten miles north-west of Gillingham and twelve miles south-west of Frome in the South Somerset district. The town has a...
, Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
as a more suitable venue for the event. The original 2006 site posed many difficulties for organisers and visitors alike with its extremely rural location and its lack of suitable access. The event has been held at Gilcombe Farm each year since.
Music, art and food at the Festival
The festival does not favour one specific genre of music and tends to promote all types of signed as well as unsigned bands & artists including DJ's. Several acts that have appeared at the festival have gone on to greater fame, notably Friendly FiresFriendly Fires
Friendly Fires are an English band from St Albans, Hertfordshire, England. They are currently signed to XL Recordings. Their self-titled debut album was released on 1 September 2008 and was announced as one of the shortlisted twelve for the 2009 Mercury Prize on 21 July 2009.-History:Friendly Fires...
& SixNationState
SixNationState
SixNationState is an indie rock band formed in 2004 in Southampton, UK...
. There are usually 2 stages (a main stage and an acoustic tent), in 2008 another tent was added playing dub music
Dub music
Dub is a genre of music which grew out of reggae music in the 1960s, and is commonly considered a subgenre, though it has developed to extend beyond the scope of reggae...
.
During the festival there are generally displays of performing or visual arts as well as features such as miniature golf courses, tea-parties and stalls selling a range of alternative arts and unusual items. The festival also adopts a "Hats Compulsory" policy. During the weekend, there is organic food
Organic food
Organic foods are foods that are produced using methods that do not involve modern synthetic inputs such as synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers, do not contain genetically modified organisms, and are not processed using irradiation, industrial solvents, or chemical food additives.For the...
(including vegetarian and vegan) from Glicombe Farm on sale as well as local cider
Cider
Cider or cyder is a fermented alcoholic beverage made from apple juice. Cider varies in alcohol content from 2% abv to 8.5% abv or more in traditional English ciders. In some regions, such as Germany and America, cider may be termed "apple wine"...
which is at very reasonable price compared to larger, commercial festivals. The Sunday Times referred to Farm Festival as "The Bargain of the Festival Season" , referring to the low ticket and refreshment prices.