All Tomorrow's Parties: the festival without a field
Think of a traditional music festival and you'll likely conjure up images of large, open fields. But All Tomorrow's Parties is no traditional music festival; while you'll probably get away with taking along your camping chairs so that you can take a load off every now and again, you'll have no need for tents and sleeping bags. The reason? All Tomorrow's Parties takes place in UK holiday camps, with visitors staying in chalets.
First conceived in 1999 under the title of the Bowlie Weekender, the UK strand of All Tomorrow's Parties takes place at Camber Sands holiday camp in East Sussex and Butlins in Minehead, Somerset. As well as the relatively plush accommodation, the thing that really sets these festivals apart from the traditional sort is that with each event an individual performer or act is invited to curate the whole affair. This has lead to the likes of Dinosaur Jr, Mogwai and My Bloody Valentine picking their favourite acts and scheduling the line-up for their individual events.
This year's first two All Tomorrow's Parties events saw Simpsons creator Matt Groening and American indie rock legends Pavement oversee proceedings in two of the festival's most impressive events to date. Still to come this year are an event curated by Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Bowlie 2, overseen by Belle and Sebastian, which will take place at Minehead from 3-5 December and 10-12 December respectively.
The festivals have proved so popular that they've spread to the States, with the next US event set to be held at Kutshers Country Club in Monticello, New York in September with Jim Jarmusch picking the line-up; highlights include Iggy & The Stooges, Sonic Youth and The Breeders.
The people behind All Tomorrow's Parties also put on special musical events under the banner of Don't Look Back, which see selected artists perform a classic album from their history in its entirety. Previous participants have included Spiritualized, who played Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space, and Teenage Fanclub, who were invited to play Bandwagonesque.
Whichever of the future All Tomorrow's Parties events you choose to attend, you can be sure you'll come away having experienced something you simply can't find at any other festival in the world.
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If you're planning a camping trip, look into getting a tent before you go.
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