Festival
In photos: Boomtown 2024 after dark
Traffic cones on the sesh. A Donald Trump drag king. Gurning Teletubbies. It’s a mild night at Boomtown Fair, and photographer Bekky Calver was there to capture the action.
Written by: Ben Smoke
In photos: Three decades of Glastonbury Festival’s people and subcultures
A new photobook explores the unique cultural experience and communal spirit found at the UK’s largest festival.
Written by: Isaac Muk
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At least 126 acts have withdrawn from the Brighton festival in protest at the inclusion of Barclays as a sponsor because of the bank's alleged links with atrocities in Gaza, Ben Smoke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
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
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
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
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
‘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
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
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
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
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