In praise of herd mentality
The best crowds are joyful expressions of democracy and belonging. So why do we fear them so much?
ByFestivals
From the feral to the glamorous at Glastonbury 2024
Little Simz and SZA made Coldplay look bland in a festival full of politics, nostalgia and peeing in cups.
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Two nights in Manchester, and my summer is complete
A sublime evening of torch songs, and managing not to ruin Maxine Peake’s one-woman show – that’s my idea of…
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Royal Blood should know by now a bad gig is never the crowd’s fault
The band threw a tantrum at Radio 1’s Big Weekend. But to good musicians indifference is an opportunity to prove…
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Can’t Glastonbury do better than its dull, white, male headliners?
The rockers that make up this year’s headliners make the festival seem like a relic from the past.
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An ode to the Great British music festival
From Green Man to Glastonbury, the best festivals are UK festivals.
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Trainwreck: Woodstock ’99 overlooks the festival’s most disturbing problem – sexual assault
This Netflix documentary treats violence against women as an afterthought and mythologises a toxic environment.
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Corporate culture is ruining live music
The rise of tiered ticketing, VIP packages and cordoned-off areas is destroying concerts. Just look at the Rolling Stones.
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In a fractured world, Glastonbury is a much-needed sanctuary
Festivals are easily romanticised, but alongside the glitter and the dancing they demonstrate how humans might better live together.
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The BBC’s Glastonbury TV coverage is a hellish nostalgia generator
This year’s festival will be shown on TV for longer, and in higher definition. Ageing festival veterans should steel themselves.
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Will festivals go ahead this summer?
Mass gatherings are due to be allowed again from 21 June, but without guaranteed insurance, festival organisers are in an…
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The summer without festivals
The cancellation of events this year is not just a blow to the festival circuit, but to the music industry’s whole…
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Cancellations, controversies and refunds: how to programme a music festival
This weekend, more than 200,000 people will fill the fields of Somerset’s Worthy Farm for Glastonbury, the world’s largest greenfield…
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A fifth of festival-goers have faced unwanted sexual behaviour. Here’s how we stop it
Many festivals still have no policies or procedures in place to tackle the alarming numbers of people being harassed and assaulted…
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Staying in The Loop: the organisation testing drugs, one festival at a time
Drug testing is hopefully the first step towards a more fact-based approach to government policy.
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Why you should go to Helsinki’s Flow Festival
From its beautiful, imposing grounds to its eclectic line-up, the festival has an atmosphere of Scandi cool that couldn’t be…
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How to survive rock’n’roll excess, the BBC under fire, and Cameron’s festival guest slot
Tom Gatti’s Latitude Notebook.
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Partner content
Latitude Festival announces 2015 theme: For Richer, For Poorer, For Better, For Worse
For the second year, the New Statesman is media partner to Latitude, the music and arts festival in Henham Park,…
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At the Verbier Festival, a lot of music is packed into a small town
From Brahms’s chamber music to Mozart opera, the little Swiss ski-village provides a musical feast.
ByLez Miserable: “Here’s my second coming out: I hate music festivals”
Live music is great. But you know what's also great? Bands not sounding like they’re shouting into saucepans.
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