Latitude festival, dyed, painted sheep
Leila & Emma
I am writing this post to convince my friend Leila that she needs to come and do this with me… She’s already pretty sold on the idea if truth be told, but at £175 per ticket (and being a festival virgin) she still needs to really justify the expenditure in what isn’t currently the easiest economical climate… So this post could easily be re-names 10 Reasons why Leila should let me pop her Festival cherry at Latitude!
Please feel free to add some more of your own if you have been before and experienced the fun first hand already!
This picture to the left here is Leila and I, by the way. She always dresses like this-I only did it to ‘fit in’ and make her feel more normal 😉
Here are the 10 Reasons:
- Mistakes – After learning a few lessons as a festival virgin last year when I popped my own music festival cherry; I realised (very quickly) that overly commercial, massiiiive festivals that are chock full of chavvy teenagers getting wasted or high whilst listening to Dizzy Rascal and Eminem and then pi$$ing on your tent, or throwing cup after cup of their own special brand of warmth over everyone in front of them was ‘not really my thing‘… If you agree, then I recommend learning from my mistake, and never ever going to
V FestivalchaV Festival - Not to big and not too small – I have already been to one local festival, with my partner and daughter last year, Lounge on the Farm in Canterbury (see my post about it here) and am going to another one this summer (The Hop Farm Festival) and whilst they are lovely, I would like to go somewhere in the middle ground (I was Goldilocks in a former life)… I feel that these middle ground festivals (Latitude has an audience of 25,000) get access to more of the quirky frills than their lower-budget, local counterparts do, and I want and like frills!
- Good Recommendation – Possibly one of the greater reasons (for me at least) is that I have a friend who works for one of the major UK broadsheet newspapers in the UK, the lucky gal gets to review music festivals, other experiences and gadgets for a them as part of her job (she gets paid to live my dreams); ‘Poor love’… As an aside, she also has to go to award ceremonies and film premiers too… It’s a hard life for some eh? …Any way, I think it would be fair to say that she has been to more festivals each summer than most people would get to go to in a lifetime, and like me, she isn’t too keen on the chav fests… I asked her which one was her favourite and she said Glasto is great, but very big, and that otherwise she particularly enjoyed ‘Latitude’… When I asked why, she told me that it was the atmosphere and the ‘shizzle’… I’m clearly not as cool as she is, because the last part didn’t mean an awful lot to me, but I think she meant the effort they go to to really make the festival ‘experience’ memorable, different, and quintessentially old-school festival: Quirky, Fun, Creative, Wacky Frills, and a creative line up designed to inspire as well as entertain.
- Pictures of the Event – After trawling through her pictures again at the end of last summer, I noticed that the pictures of the festivals were also quite telling to this end; in particular, that her pictures from other festivals seemed to be more of people and fancy-dress costumes, rather than the surroundings. Latitude simply seem to be more proactive in really delivering a visually and culturally quality festival, than the more commercial, larger, chavvy festivals like V Festival do (or any other festival that I have, thus far, seen and researched (but definitely take her word for it over mine)! I am in love with all the pictures I have seen of Latitude Festival, It looks stunningly beautiful even without all of the quirky extras… Take a look at this video of last year (the 6th Edition)
- It’s more than a music festival… It has also has a keen focus on literature, theatre and poetry, as well as the usual comedy… They have A Comedy Tent (which pulls some big names), a Literature Tent, A Poetry Tent, A BAFTA Film & Music Arena, additional Music Stalls (that add variety to the scheduled programme including jazz, opera and classical music this year) and of course The Main Arena and even a ‘Modern Toss tent’ and A Children’s Arena. I love that it is culturally diverse and is working hard to set a high benchmark in cultural standards to other festivals. I am looking forward to being exposed to new music and cultural acts that I haven’t necessarily been exposed to before.
- It’s family friendly, (although I am hoping that I will be able to make this a grown up festival visit for me on this occasion). Latitude have a Children’s Arena, and although they no longer offer boutique babysitting (a feature that was available in some previous years) they do have plans to find a partner who can outsource a similar service at some point. I also like that even their sponsors are working hard to engage with families
- Great Event Manager – It is the personal project of Melvin Benn, chief of Festival Republic, and having watched his feedback video responses to the Latitude Forums, I love his vision and outlook on where he wanted his brainchild to go and what he wants to do with it. I also like that he is not compromising on quality and diversity as the festival gains momentum and becomes more established.
- I want to feel like I have enjoyed the Quintessential Festival Experience I imagined in my mind when I was younger… So far, I have not… Glastonbury is not on this year, and to be honest I have heard that it’s just getting so ridiculously big and somewhat more commercial that even if it were on-this would still hold more appeal for me at the present time the
- They don’t hire standard stewards… They hire Woodland Pixies! The people who look after what are meant to be one of the friendliest, relaxed crowds of the festival world are dressed up as pixies and required to watch over lakes and woodland settings… This is just one of the quirky things Latitude does… They also hide invisible mirror men and themed scenes in the surrounding woodland
- AND FINALLY… They dye the sheep on the farm Pink! – In fact they dye them in an assortment of pastel colours like little walking Fruitella pastel sweets. I want to see the infamous flock of pastel coloured sheep because it’s one of the first pictures of the festival that really captured my imagination!
- Toilets. I know I said 10, but I thought this one was worth mentioning too… The toilets are meant to be very good by festival standards apparently… That for me will win brownie points (if you’ll pardon the unfortunate pun). That said, The Festival Toilets I’ve seen this far have not set much of a bench mark (though V was particularly disgusting)… As such, I will still be taking my Travel Johns. They will no doubt come in handy in the middle of the night when it’s chilly outside the tent, and you are less keen to venture over in your jim-jams!
Oh… AND they have A FLOATING STAGE… Did I forget to mention that? Just so pretty and inviting as you’ll see from these amazing pictures… Mine will be nothing like as professional as this when I go of course:
.
Please note, We have since been to this festival. The post is here: Latitude Festival… I popped Leila’s Festival Cherry!
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1st (and LAST) visit to ‘V Festival’
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I’m even sold on this event! Though it’s a bit expensive, it does look like loads of fun and a memorable experience!!!
are you in the UK in mid July Annette? The £175 price tag is actually great value compared to many other UK festivals to be honest, and looks to be more worthy of the price tag… Plus it’s 4 days long-that’s a lot of culture to soak up for your money 🙂
I wish I was there in July, it does sound like a blast, especially for 4 days! I’ll be there on April 2 for a very short 4 days 😦
Oh well… One to add to the future list perhaps?
Wow, looks like quite a fun festival. Sounds like a good place to get into the festival scene.
Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment Anwar!
It certainly does…. Are you tempted to go too?
I’ll be in the UK in April and not July unfortunately (although possibly in August too) so I won’t be in the region during the festival. It might be a good thing since I think I’m a bit frightened by dyed sheep 😉
Hey, it’s actually on in July not August any way… Middle of the month
Hey Emma, thanks for the mention! I stand by everything I said – Latitude is the shizzle. It’s impossible not to enjoy it and definitely worth £130. I might be able to get you a free ticket but of course I cannot 100% guarantee that. You could even risk buying a last minute ticket from Gumtree at a slashed price.
They’ll be annoucing the line-up soon, fingers crossed it’s as good as previous years. Make sure you check out the comedy, cabaret and poetry tents, as well as the music. My favourite start to the day is at the Sunrise stage in the woods.
Out of all the festivals, this is the best one to ease yourself in with. I hope to see you and Leila there xxx
Aww thanks Laura! Good news is Leila wants to come along! YAY! Are you going with your big bro again? I’m personally hoping that Florence and the Machine will be there again-as I’d like to see them/her in particular live!
I am looking forward to checking out the other tents, so we’ll be sure to do that. What is the Sunrise stage? I can imagine that would look amazing at sun rise-though not sure I’d be up to make sun rise personally, unless we managed to stay awake all night!
Leila’s a bit nervous about how she will like festivals, but I’m pretty sure she’ll love it…. I loved Lounge on the Farm last year… Do they do any silent disco type stuff? I say an electric orchestra thing with headphones… I really want to go to one of those as I haven’t yet experienced one even though they did have one at Lounge… I just had no idea why everyone was flocking to and packing out the silent tent at the time and it was rammed, so I didn’t bother going near it.
Wow…i can’t actually count how many facts you got wrong about Latitude on this page. Shame… Latitude has a capacity of 30,000, it’s called the Obelisk arena, not man arena, and it’s not even that family friendly anymore. And it’s certainly not the place to mess about and get drunk, alot of the regulars don’t like that.
PS. sunrise stage doesn’t look good at sunrise, it’s in the woods.
Okay Lozz, let’s get something straight about a few things:
1) “Latitude has a capacity of 30,000” – I read 25,000 in another article-but if you want to tell me otherwise and tell me you’re the authority on this-go ahead. It really doesn’t make a massive difference to me whether it’s 25,000 or 30,000 capacity
2) “It’s called the Obelisk arena, not man arena” – I say tomatoes, you say tom-ay-toes… In other words, a rose by any other name… It’s still the main stage. I was honest about the fact I’ve never been before-GET OVER YOURSELF.
3) “and it’s not even that family friendly anymore.” – Funny that, they have a whole children’s arena… V didn’t-that was NOT a family friendly festival. This has activities laid on for children, and sponsorship partners who are catering to the entertainment of families. Maybe you come from a planet where that means something other than family friendly?
4) “And it’s certainly not the place to mess about and get drunk, alot of the regulars don’t like that.” – I don’t remember saying that we wanted to get wasted beyond belief-where did I say that, and if not, how is that relevant… That said, this is a FESTIVAL… Don’t even try to pretend that this place frowns upon people letting their hair down a little-they have licensed bars for crying out loud! LOL! Perhaps you encountered issues because you don’t know where to draw the line… you seem pretty aggressive considering I was writing something positive. Perhaps it is precisely because it IS a family friendly festival that people expect a bit more from those attending?
5) “PS. sunrise stage doesn’t look good at sunrise, it’s in the woods.” – I really have to take issue with this one… I know you might never have seen one, but sun rises can look particularly stunning through the trees in woodland areas with the dancing long shadows cast by the majestic trunks and angelic light that the sun casts through woods in the early morning. If you don’t believe me take a look at this picture http://pinterest.com/pin/107664247311830116/ I’m not saying that is how the Sunrise stage looks, but don’t cast stones for me making passing comment about something I’ve never seen!
…Now I suggest you take your negative, toxic attitude and bugger off to chaV Fest with all the other ignorant chavs who want to get so wasted that setting fire to the tents of others seems like a great idea of fun… If you weren’t popular at Latitude, then that might be reason enough to add it even higher up on my list…
Haha, you make me laugh.1) I’m not a chav and have never had any desire to go to V
2) I’m one of the forum regulars,who knows Melvin quite well actually. As well as John Dunn who books the acts, so you could say I know a hell of a lot about the festival actually! Simply just warning you that just as much raucous behavior occurs at latitude now thanks to the number of underage teens that have come over from V.
Lol Emma! Too funny! @Lozz you should really get a life and stop raining on the happiness of others.. Seriously, what’s your problem?
Lozz, I’m interested to know how you know that these teens are coming from V? Thanks, but having had the misfortune of attending V fest, and having a good friend who reviews festivals as part of her actual job (she goes to about 15 festivals a year) I know that Latitude is not a patch on V for raucous behaviour.. She will no longer camp at V since her tent was set on fire WHILST she slept in it (yikes!)
I also don’t think Latitude would tolerate all of the piss throwing unlike V where it’s going on ALL the time, all the time the acts are on.
I have been to a couple of festivals now, and have a few friends who go to Latitude regularly (as well as other festivals besides), and I am open minded. Wherever there is alcohol (festival or not) you will ALWAYS get a few people who spoil it by going too far, but on the whole, Latitude appears to be (at least from recommendations and reviews) to be one of the nicer ones.
I am looking forward to it and will report back afterwards with my own experience… You must like it, or else you’re a glutton for punishment to keep going back!
Any way, glad I made you chuckle, hopefully we’ll all have a fab time there this year! I plan to, but then, I’m pretty positive and fairly bullet proof… I will only really have a problem if there were a lot of mismanaged antisocial behaviour, and I get the feeling that Latitude management are pretty good so far.
I particularly like the forum response videos and interaction on their social media pages thus far.
Wow! I’ve never heard of this festival before! Probably because I’m over in the states… Anything involving colorful animals is right up my alley! The light show looks absolutely amazing as well!
Maybe time a future holiday to coincide with Latitude? I think I would… I also want to try Oktoberfest at some point in Munich
YAY! Leila is convinced so we’ve decided to go! I don’t recognise that many of the band names on the Main arena list yet, Excited about Janelle Monae and Bat for Lashes though, but will check the rest of them out on YouTube over the coming months.
Very excited about the Comedy Arena looks good, and the one act that Leila was hoping would be there IS going to be, which is great! 🙂
I am peeking my nose …. yes I am going , that is it…. SOKO will be there , can not wait to see her ! And the gorgeous Brian Cox…. I am very excited to do this with you Emma , I wouldn’t have let anyone popping my Festival cherry ! Woohoo
Peeking my nose ????????????? I ment ( I think ) sticking my nose ( in emma’s blog). Bad use of the english language. Oh well, I am foreign that is my excuse.
Laura, looking forward to meet you, I have been told you are lovely 😉
Emma , are you still excited ? I am thinking of making some colorfoul clothes, skirt and tube top … What do you reckon Emma ?
LMAO!!! Of course! SO EXCITED! LOVE LOVE LOVE the idea of making your own clothes-I wish I had a sewing machine and the ability to do it! 🙂
I have the sewing machine , the abiility is something else ! Wont be “haute couture” that is for sure ! But we could have fun with it 🙂
Glad you liked the look of the Disco Shed! We can’t wait to play Latitude again, it’s a brilliant festival. We had a LOT of fun last year, have a butchers: http://www.discoshed.com/video and see you in Pandora’s Playground!
Paddy
It looks fun! What time does it start and finish?
Hello! I just read your post, and despite the negative comments some of your readers have (!) I think you’re pretty much right about most things. I went for the first time 2 years ago as a perfomer and loved it. It’s a lot more chilled compared to Glastonberry and it definitely feels more family friendly. It’s more of a cross arts festival so it attracks more of a cultured audience.
If you’re coming this year, do pop down to the Faraway Forest to see The Painted House! Its a collaboration between some great fashion industry professionals and there are lots of interactive fun things to get involved with. I’ll be there on Friday at 13.30 showcasing textiels and trinkets picked up on my travels an chatting about my blog, Wandering Threads. Come on down and say hello!
Hey Samantha, only just saw this, so I’m sorry I missed you, but I did love the Faraway Forest! Loved the festival despite all the mud, and I definitely want to go back 🙂
Hey Emma – I would love to use one of your images for a blog post I’m writing about Latitude festival. Love the sheep pics! Would you be happy for me to do so if I credit and link back to your site? best wishes
Abi
Sure! They are very cute! Go for it-thanks for asking!