Just when you think festival season can't get any better than the major players such as Glastonbury and I.O.W with their killer line-ups, and the smaller indie-style laid back festivals such as WOMAD, fledgling BoomTown Festival has finally taken off.
Not only has it spread its wings, the festival has soared in popularity of immense proportions, earning itself a well deserved place on the proverbial “edgiest, wackiest and mad-as-anything” must-do list.
From August 13th-16th the usually bucolic sleepy hollow of the Matterly Bowl, nestled between the rolling green hills of Winchester, becomes transformed into BoomTown Festival - a pop-up fictional city.
Elaborate facades give the feeling of wandering around a Hollywood film set, as it features everything from Wild West saloon bars to a Courthouse and mega-huge Boombox, pumping out hours upon hours of music intensity to manically lose your mind to.
The “city” is divided into districts, hosting an impressive 22 stages, featuring over 500 acts of every kind of musical genre imaginable - dub, reggae, world, punk, pirate and disco to electro-swing, jazz, blue-grass and gypsy. Punters can relish in diverse world music from Mali born Amadou and Marian, to eclectic quirky politically-aware songsters, such as Will Varley and Beans on Toast.
Renowned reggae artists Stephen Marley and Black Uhuru headline the main stages, together with real festival crowd pleasers Dub Pistols and Goldie Lookin Chain to name but a few.
Need that Techno fix? Problem solved - head out to the Rave Yard to experience full mind-blowing sensory overload. Or mellow out and slip into a meditative state in the Floating Lotus as you satiate your aural pleasures and kick back with some psychedelic grooves.
Hot-footing your way across the different areas, Boomtown Bobbies with loud-hailers get down and groove to the beat. On the outskirts of Town, you can sign on for your benefits at the Job Centre, stop by the chaotic topsy-turvy flop-house of Grandma's Living Room for a little r&r, then hang out in the People's Front Room, joining in with lyrically bizarre honky-tonk piano players as they attempt to conduct often raucous and hilarious sing-alongs.
Kidztown for the youngsters offers an interactive tropical paradise, with pizzas, puppetry and inflatable animals galore, this is the place for the little ones to chill and recharge their batteries. Across the way at Whistler's Green there are hands-on workshops - everything from cider making to blacksmithing and woodcarving.
BoomTown simply oozes serendipity. One minute you'll be wildly dancing your face off at the Jolly Dodger pirate ship to the highly entertaining antics of Tankus the Henge's front-man Jaz Delorean, next you'll be kicking your heels up at a hoe-down in the Rusty Spurs barn with a bunch of banjo strumming musicians, as punters slump over hale bales and look on with glazed-over eyes, as the scenery-like walls vibrate.
But wait! The party's just beginning. As night begins to fall, the ambient lighting of the Psychedelic Forest lures party-goers in to the woods where flashes of Alice in Wonderland imagery cross the mind.
The mesmerising vibe is irresistible - As the DJs spin their magic, the beat intensifies, the Hidden Woods come alive with hip-hop and revelry, lights casting a multitude of swirling patterns and shadows across the trees that'll transfix your gaze.
Such is the intoxicating atmosphere and craziness at BoomTown that the lines between reality and fantasy are truly blurred. Folks in vibrant, weird and wonderful costumes wander the town, day and night. By the end of the festival you can't tell the punters from the performers – not that you'll probably be in any fit state to care.
Debauched behaviour, hazy days and hedonistic nights where the body and mind become entwined are de rigueur at Boomtown. In just six short years it has become the UK's quickest growing in festival prominence.
With around 40,000 attendees and over ¾ of tickets already sold, if you're fortunate enough to have snagged one you are in for a phenomenal experience. With the billing calling out to folks to “Be Part of One of the Most Spectacular Shows on Earth” I'd highly recommend you take them up on it.
With adult tickets starting at £120.00 and the proceeds going either back into running the festival and being donated to charity, BoomTown is both affordable and ethically sound. If there's only one festival you can fit it to your hectic schedule – this should be it.
See website for further information:
http://www.boomtownfair.co.uk/home
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