FESTIVAL NEWS

Belgian festival Rock Werchter has announced that it is shifting its dates forward by one week next year, in order to accommodate the availability of one of its headliners. In a statement, the festival said: "This means we're moving the festival one week forward, to fit the schedule of one of the headliners. Negotiations are still ongoing, and we cannot reveal any names just yet".

The UK's Bloc Weekend festival has announced its return to Butlins in Minehead next year, three years on from the ill-fated London version of the event. Taking place in March, the first wave of artists have been announced - including Jeff Mills, Modeselektor and Hudson Mohawke - with the festival returning to the holiday camp format it previously ran successfully for a number of years. Bloc's 2012 event in London was shut down by police mid-way through its first night due to overcrowding at the London Pleasure Gardens.

The Glastonbury Festival has asked its traders not to sell anymore Native American-style headdresses. Speaking to NME,  co-organiser Emily Eavis emphasised that "it isn't a ban, it's just that we've asked the two traders selling them to hold off". The move follows the launch of an online petition on Change.org calling on Glastonburty to "lead the way this side of the pond and take a principled stand".  Canada's Bass Coast festival stopped traders on-site shops from selling items of feathered headgear, also asked ticketholders to refrain from bringing in and wearing the garments.

Glastonbury has also confirmed that the Festival was able to give £2 million to charities in 2013. Oxfam, Greenpeace, WaterAid were the primary beneficiaries but hundreds of other worthy causes, both local and international, received funds. Oxfam and Greenpeace recieved £500,000 and WaterAid £260,000. More on the Glastonbury website here.

Virtual Festivals reports that a young man has been found wandering through woods in Georgia, lost and confused, four days after attending a music festival in the US.
Hunter Casey Saunders reportedly stumbled upon the man in the woods on October 2nd, shortly after the TomorrowWorld Festival in Georgia, according to reports on Digital Spy. Saunders took a video of the incident (watch below) in which he is heard shouting before encountering the man in the woods, "holding a walking stick with not a stitch of clothing on him" who claimed he had been attacked and stripped. Saunders says he gave the man food and water.

The Bestival team pick up their award

The Association of Independent Festivals (AIF) has  announced the winners of the first ever Festival Congress Awards at a sold-out ceremony in Cardiff’s Portland House. The ceremony recognised and celebrated the great variety of work that took place in the festival industry this year. Winners included Catfish & the Bottlemen for ‘Live Act of the Year’,  Showsec for ‘Friendliest Security Staff’,  Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip for ‘Artist for the Audience’ and The Arcadia Spider in the ‘Mind-Blowing Spectacle Award’ category. Dan Le Sac, said: “We are honoured to win this award. We’ve spent the last 8 years together planning shows because we love gigging, so to be recognised for that is truly wondrous! The cherry on the cake is that the award comes from the AIF - the independent festival scene is hugely vibrant in the UK and plays a massive part in keeping the music industry alive.”

AIF vice chair, John Rostron, said: "What a way to kick off the first ever Festival Congress Awards, with some terrific winners and plenty of good fun in the mix. The fact there are winners here who aren't even a part of the AIF, yet have been nominated and voted for by our membership, demonstrates the great spirit of support for the sector, which runs throughout the AIF. Our festivals LOVE festivals, and there's a lot of love for these worthy winners." The awards were hosted by Ben Challis and featured an introduction by Huw Stephens (BBC Radio One) and Bethan Elfyn (BBC Radio Wales). There were also showcase performances from talented emerging Welsh music acts Baby Queens and Gabrielle Murphy, in connection with the AIF’s exciting partnership with the BBC’s Horizons scheme.

And those winners were:

Dan le Sac

The Outstanding Contribution Award – Rob da Bank

Supporter of Emerging Talent Award – 2000 Trees

New Festival on the Block – Fire in the Mountain

Silver Service Award – Goan Seafood Company

Unique Festival Site – Festival No.6

Live Act of the Year – Catfish & the Bottlemen

Artist for the Audience – Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip

Mind-Blowing Spectacle Award – The Arcadia Spider

Smart Marketing Campaign of the Year – Bestival Mirror Ball

Random Act of Kindness Award – End of the Road audience: Festival Wood

Culture & Tourism Award: Forward Thinking Local Authority – Dorset County Council

Friendliest Security Staff - Showsec

Festival Blogger of the Year – Shell Zenner

Emmet Brown Award – Shambala Festival: Fuel Efficient Technology

Festival Venue of the Year – End of the Road: The Garden Stage

Unsung Hero – James Goodall

A Greener Fesival also handed out its Greener Festival  awards to Shambala (Outstanding), Wood (Highly Commended) and Nozstock (Commended) with our very own Helen Innes in charge of proceedings at a drinks reception sponsored by our good friends at Robertson Taylor WP Longreach.


An after party at Cardiff’s Glee Club followed the ceremony and was soundtracked by icons of the DJ world including Huw Stephens, Madame Electrifie, DJ Chris Tofu and Count Skylarkin. The awards ceremony took place on the first night of the AIF Festival Congress, a two-day gathering of those behind the success of festivals around the world as they met to network, learn and celebrate. The congress featured keynote speaker Jude Kelly and speeches from high-profile figures of the industry such as Martin Elbourne, Stuart Galbraith and Alison Wenham. For further details go to http://aiforg.com/initiatives/festival-congress/