“Big Love Festival was beautiful. A great first festival experience for my children and would recommend to anyone next year looking for a family friendly small festival. Zero bad vibes, zero drama and 100% love.”
“Genuinely one of the friendliest and funniest UK festivals we’ve worked with so far and the community there are 100% our people. All ages, all backgrounds, all smiles and love. Can’t recommend this one enough.”
“A lovely small festival with a big heart and vibe a plenty.”
"What a great little festival Big Love is. Had a fantastic weekend and met some top people."
A few days ago, The Guardian ran an article asking “why anybody would want to run a festival.” It highlighted some of the problems that festival organisers face, though it didn’t come close to capturing some of the stressful situations I saw at Boomtown during my time there. Even just from the music side of things, you’re talking: many sleepless nights; juggling tight budgets and engaging in high pressure negotiations; dealing with more challenges in one year (or even one weekend) than you’ve handled in your entire life; getting the crowd flow right so that the festival remains busy, exciting and energised, but also safe; navigating an ever changing music and festival industry whilst trying to operate outside of their rules; and also being told constantly that the whole festival is riding on the line up you’re curating. To be honest this is just the tip of the iceberg and so eventually a couple of years ago, after dealing with severe burn out, I quit. I moved back to Wales, got an amazing day job at the museum and as far as I was concerned, I was out of the festival game for good.
One small little festival managed to hold onto me, and that’s Big Love. I don’t have the time to explain the ins and outs of how and why they managed it, but before I knew it, every spare second of free time was being taken up with trying to make this little festival with a big heart, as special as it deserved to be. I skirted dangerously close to burn out again a few times and had to keep pulling myself back. A few days before the festival I swore blind I’d never ever be doing it again. My health was suffering, it was threatening to interfere with my ‘proper job’, and my stress levels were starting to rise. Why on earth do people run festivals? I asked myself, not for the first time.
The answer can be found in the comments above. I haven’t asked if I can share yet, so I’ve kept them anonymous, but all of them come from artists that performed at this year’s festival. What brought me into the festival world in the first place, was the feeling of magic that can be created when you get it just right. That magic was everywhere at this year’s Big Love, and I didn’t just feel it myself, I had multiple people telling me throughout the weekend.
Now don’t get me wrong. I’m a sceptic and a cynic. But sometimes an open mind is the best accompaniment to an open heart. Why do you think festivals are such a safe haven for new age beliefs and alternative therapies? Often I become frustrated at a lack of science and sense. Other times I’ve experienced life changing scenarios that have no grounding in reason. Perhaps it’s placebo and luck, perhaps it’s all about narrative and intention. Either way I think a little bit of magic is good for the soul. I also like to cover my bases, so I’m not adverse to a little superstition every now and then.
Which is why I found myself trying to bury a ‘Child of Prague’ upside down at 5am on Saturday morning, to try and ward off the torrential downpours and thunderstorms that had been forecast. I had been reluctantly persuaded of this Christ Child effigy’s power on my wedding day. Certainly the clouds had cleared for us against all odds, after my Irish father in law had buried it in the grounds of our wedding venue. Who am I to argue? Like I say, I really am a sceptic for the most part, but when the whole atmosphere of the festival is at stake, it’s got to be worth a go right?
It didn’t go exactly according to plan. I’d had very little sleep for starters. I’d arrived onsite at 1am Thursday night, after spending the day at Folly Farm, where my friends Tim (Dub Boy) and Chanel had their own very special wedding. I’d gone to bed at 2am and 3 hours later was wide awake again. I ventured out into the festival grounds, and aimed to find a sunrise spot. The first person I bumped into was my best mate from my early teenage years, Dale McCarthy. He was just rinsing out the last few drops of his birthday. I remembered because it was always the day before my own. After a lovely catch up, he passed on the baton and I began the day, way too bright and early. It was an absolute scorcher too. The hottest day of the year according to the radio. It couldn’t have been better for the festival. The vibes were as strong as the sunshine and music from FFTP, Omega Nebula, Lazy Habits, King Of The Beats, Paul Lyons and all of the amazing ‘Disco Bar’ DJs proved the perfect soundtrack for such a lush day. Dr Meaker’s headline live set was extra special, so much energy in one field.
Sadly I only caught snatches of it all. It was a busy day from early morning until just before midnight. When I eventually clocked off I was determined to have at least some birthday celebrations, though this mainly consisted of sitting down on the grass and chatting to friends for a few hours. In that time I managed to amass a few presents though, a Caribbean Sea shell (thanks Kieran), some homemade fudge (thanks Flo), a cap courtesy of Glitch Girl, a record from Lazy Habits and a beautiful shirt from Tom and Lottie at one of the stalls. I made it to bed around 4am, but then was up at 5am worried that if I left it too late to bury the Child of Prague, the storms might well flood the place in biblical fashion.
I couldn’t find a spade, and after a failed attempt to use a stick to dig a hole in the woods, I opted for a pile of already dug out dirt behind the staff catering truck. I convinced myself that ‘ground was ground’ and tried to get some more sleep. Around 7am I woke up and tried to find my phone. Just at that moment, a voice nearby asked if I’d happened to lose something important. My phone had been found in the woods, by somebody going to pick flowers. What are the chances?
In case you were wondering, we did have a little rain. Whilst I’m not saying the Child of Prague definitely made a difference, it turned out to be very mild drizzle compared to the downpours we’d been promised. Which, if there were some higher powers at play, isn’t bad considering I’d only half-heartedly completed my mission in the first place. Like I keep saying, I truly am a sceptic, but it’s always good to cover your bases.
No amount of rain could dampen the vibe anyway. The crowd danced all day at the main stage and every act gave their all. I caught way more than the day before and very much enjoyed sets from Junior Jungle, O.Love & The Affair, Mr Pacho Vibes, Imperial Leisure, Suntou Susso, Binbag Wisdom, Headmix and The Undercover Hippy. Not to mention DJs such as Asian Hawk, Glyn Radford, Spinners, Bodhi and Ratcher. Plus every single artist I caught at the 1 More Thing takeover smashed their set. My personal favourite was Aries, who is the king of jungle dubplates, specials and edits. Originally we’d hoped for a back to back between him and Mrs Magoo, so I was extra happy when they managed to play 40 minutes together doing just that.
A few of my highlights weren’t musical though. I’d been asked earlier in the day if I wanted to do a ‘firewalk’ and an ‘arrow break’. I’m not the kind of person to turn down an opportunity like that, even if I don’t fully understand what’s expected. So I agreed and a few hours later I found myself snapping an arrow on my throat and walking over hot coals. I’ve since looked up the science of the coals, and it’s mostly to do with conductivity. However as one person did find out, if you don’t approach it properly you will get burned. This means walking with purpose and intention to get the correct stride, and whilst there is no actual magic involved in that process, it still feels like a powerful ritual. I went across with playfulness, pleasure and principles in mind. I often forget all of these when I get too busy, stressed or serious, but they’ve always been an important part of my life and Big Love is meant to be an embodiment of them all. It was great to not only be reminded of that, but to set it as a proper intention. There was no doubt at the end of the weekend that these three things underlined the entire festivities, alongside connection, community and inclusiveness. Which every festival should have at its very core anyway.
Later on I went to check out my friend Frances Widow’s ‘Rock N Rollium’ circus sideshow cabaret in the Big Top. It was naughty, sexy, dangerous and lots of fun. At the end she pulled me up to stand on top of her as she lay on a bed of nails (I also had to pop a balloon over my head). I think I was more worried about that than walking on hot coals, but thankfully nobody was hurt too badly. I finished the night in the new secret disco playing Wedding Bangers to a room full of friends. The full moon energy was definitely in full effect.
Sunday lived up to its name and the rays were back in full force. There was a little more running around in the morning, trying to trace a missing drum piece so we could soundcheck Arrested Development, then having to drive one of the artists to Newport so they could get home. It meant I missed most of the Sound Progression takeover but I heard great things. Once again every single act I caught not only delivered a great show, but they all exceeded my expectations. I literally couldn’t have asked for better and the triple whammy of The Allergies, Molotov Jukebox and Arrested Development proved just perfect. Once again my closing set hit the top spot for my favourite set of the year (so far) and I even managed to sneak in some tunes with the Super Soca Show as part of the Terrain Takeover on the Fire Truck. All in all, it was a truly magical weekend. There’s just no other word for it really. Don’t just take my word for it either, here’s a few more messages I received from artists.
“You’ve truly created a slice of magic up in the hills of Wales!”
“This was one of the best small festivals I have ever been to. The music, the people, the decor, the love vibrashuns (sic) - I am home and my soul feels nourished and full of love.”
“Genuinely one of the best festivals I’ve ever been to and I’ve been to many festivals. It was just beautiful, it was genuinely “Big Love” like it was described in the title. It was just the cutest, most organic, most freeing, happy, joyous experience.”
A massive shout out to the whole team. There’s a lot of blood, sweat and tears that goes into a festival and everybody went above and beyond the call of duty. I think everybody asks that question “why?” at some point, but we keep on coming back for more because it’s important. I couldn’t imagine a world without the opportunities that festivals like Big Love can offer. I really hope that you can make it next year. Advanced tickets go on sale next Sunday! You can even get a £10 discount if you use the code EB2025. I’ll share some more photos when the official snaps come back too.
In the meantime, there’s no rest for the wicked as they say. I have a number of other festivals to DJ at this year including: Reggae & Riddim; Boomtown; Green Man; Beautiful Days; Green Gathering; and Mucky Weekender. Not one of these sets will be the same as any of the others either.
There’s also two nights coming up at Paradise Garden in Cardiff next month. On the 10th we have the next ‘It’s A Disco Thing’ with special guests Clare James and Sister Sesh, whilst on the 24th it’s ‘Bump N Hustle’ with the amazing DJ Jaffa and Dave Grooveslave. Myself and Paul Lyons will be your residents as always, and entry is free, though it’s advised to arrive early to avoid being left outside. I’ll be back next week to tell you all about Reggae & Riddim and one of my favourite artists, Tarrus Riley, until then!