Brownstock Festival, which commenced on the 10th of July, was without doubt a highly successful weekend. The once small-time event coped well with peak numbers this year, large crowds being drawn in by well-known acts such as Example headlining the main stage. The Friday saw queues of two hours or longer to enter when gates opened, but due to the fact most were waiting alongside a large group of friends, and enjoying the glorious weather, this did not do much to dampen the electric atmosphere that festivals such as this seem to breed. The security checks on Friday were thorough but not particularly time consuming, which helped eased queueing times somewhat, and as such most who wanted to be were through the gates before the acts started.
The main campsite that greeted you upon entering was essentially average, pathways were marked clearly through the tents, presumably to try and prevent drunken stumbling into guide ropes, and multi-coloured bunting adorned much of the fencing and security towers – a sincere attempt to make the site seem friendly. Of course, by the end of the weekend much of the bunting had been stolen and used to decorate tents and people, but as first impressions go it was successful. The organisers had also done well in allocating enough space for camping, providing room from large groups to pitch in circles facing inwards, leaving space for the obligatory cesspit of beer cans, half-eaten food and occasional vomit that accumulates over the three days in the centre of each huddle.
The campsite was also conveniently situated in the vicinity of food stalls and merchandise shops, the variety of which was unparalleled. A personal favourite was the cereal stall which offered to mix and match numerous breakfast essentials in order to ensure each day was started with the right intake of fibre and slow-release energy. Whether or not the drunkards and ket-addicts that seemed to make up a large proportion of the festival goers were that concerned with ‘starting their day right’ is another matter, but I appreciated the option at least.
Regarding the acts at Brownstock there was little difference in quality from previous years. The atmosphere was in many sense a tale of two halves, from 12pm to 7pm the entire festival was very chilled out, most opting to move as little as possible, largely due one imagines to the previous night’s exploits. For those more adventurous, or functioning thanks to aspirin, there was the Treehouse Stage, which offered hay bales, sunshine and a variety of acts who all had the decency not to play too loudly. This relaxed atmosphere seemed to dissolve the moment the masses started to move down to the stage area, however. The evenings, nights and early mornings of Brownstock can be most suitably likened to a massive rave in a field; the DJ sets which dominated the line-up of the two largest stages ensured there was an energised crowd. This crazed blur of dancing, jumping, and even moshing seemed to continue until the sun rose the next morning, by which point everyone began the awkward search for the pop-up tent that looked identical to everyone else’s.
The only real criticism that can be made of Brownstock is the way it continues to be marketed. The festival is advertised as a family-friendly event, which it simply isn’t. It’s not that the staff seemed at all hostile to families, but rather that the high levels of alcohol and drug abuse the festival sees makes it essentially unsafe, or at least unsavoury, for parents with young children. Really, Brownstock should market itself towards its most predominate clientele, groups of teenage friends who want to sleep in tents and take recreational drugs while listening to house music. These individuals made up a solid 90% of the people there, which makes you wonder why the festival seems to shy away from embracing itself as a big rave and maintaining this front of being a wholesome rural congregation of music lovers.
Still this inconsistency is more a minor annoyance on behalf of those who go to Brownstock under false pretences than a genuine reason to avoid the festival, allowing its whole-hearted recommendation. Its great fun, and as still one of the UK’s smaller festivals when compared to the likes of V Fest or Reading and Leeds, it could be a nice warm-up for the summer of music events you may be planning next year.
Words by Jonah Elvidge