- Tom Faber heads into the woods to take the temperature of one of the UK's fastest-rising festivals.
- Most-heard song of Farr Festival 2018? "Three Lions" by The Lightning Seeds. Several DJs played the tongue-in-cheek classic on Saturday, including Job Jobse. For the heads, London diggers Heels & Souls favoured New Order's 1990 World Cup tune, "World In Motion." Reminders of England's quarter-final match against Sweden were almost as ubiquitous as kick drums—national team shirts were out in force, both contemporary and trendy '90s throwbacks. One fan, clutching two pints in plastic cups, had the word "England" shaved into the back of his head.
The scene of purest jubilation during this year's Farr Festival, which took place for the ninth time at Bygrave Woods in Hertfordshire, was when the final whistle blew at Factory Stage. The game was shown there as a ticketed event, causing many punters to ask why the festival hadn't arranged a free screening. Instead, fans were charged £5 for tickets, which sold out quickly, forcing many to leave the site to watch the game. Organisers said it was tricky to arrange security for such a large gathering of people, but it left me wondering why an event that was otherwise so scrupulously organised hadn't made provisions for the predictably huge amount of football fans.
While there were no queues or sudden power cuts this year, a 30°C heatwave took many partiers by surprise. There wasn't adequate shade at the campsite or the festival grounds, and walking out during the daytime I saw people crowding into every scrap of shade behind food stalls and fences. One girl remarked that the sun had driven her twice to the welfare tent, not because she was feeling unwell, but because they let her use suncream and an electric fan.
Farr's five stages were spread across the top of a hill overlooking rolling fields of wheat. Though previous editions have come under fire for their volume levels, the speakers were loud and crisp at The Shack for Or:la's impressive set of urgent techno on Friday, just as they were for Job Jobse the next day, who played a crowd-pleasing selection of house and Italo bangers, including Dead Or Alive's "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)." That stage was also the most atmospheric, its industrial aesthetic and sunken earth dance floor giving the impression we were lightyears away from civilisation, rather than 30 minutes from London.
The weekend boasted a generous spread of excellent DJs. Lena Willikens played weapon after weapon of silky techno in an expertly-paced set, a cigarette jutting confrontationally from her mouth. Zip's closing performance on Sunday, as the sunset filtered through the trees, was a masterclass in sultry minimalism. Young Marco and Optimo's back-to-back packed the most surprises, veering from the remorseless drums of Bleaker's "Hype (Funk)" to Abba. At one point, the signature vocal from Tessela's "Hackney Parrot" was humorously laid over a dusty new wave cut. Antal and Hunee also proved perfect closers on Sunday, playing disco and house that ranged from sleazy to joyous. A particular highlight was the changeover: Hunee applauded Antal's selections and took the reins, launching straight into Wolf Muller's dynamite edit of Barbatuques' "Baiana."
The most reliable stage for interesting music was the Campfire Headphase teepee, a womb-like space curated by Inverted Audio, softly lit and full of smoke. It provided the lion's share of my favourite musical moments, from superb sets by Galcher Lustwerk and DJ Richard to a pair of banging performances from Rezzett and Skee Mask on Friday. On Sunday, the Bristol label Bokeh Versions took over the tent for a day of deep dub and spacey reggae.
There is still room for improvement at Farr. The security searches were erratic, sometimes jovial and sometimes unnecessarily aggressive. The decoration, at points, lacked cohesion. The main stage, Factory, also needed work. Its post-apocalyptic design concept seemed vague, while many DJs failed to build much energy, lost in the massive space.
These are the signs of Farr transitioning from its intimate origins into a medium-sized festival. Capped a few years ago at 5,000 attendees, it anticipates double that figure by next year. The audience was one of the youngest I've seen at a dance music festival, and many seemed to be there to socialise as much as to dance, meaning that the crowds were frustratingly static during some sets, particularly on Friday. Farr might not be the headsiest event out there, but it served a different purpose: offering a space where people could escape and enjoy a long weekend of fun in an enchanted wood.
Photo credit /
James North Photography & Rob Jones
Farr's five stages were spread across the top of a hill overlooking rolling fields of wheat. Though previous editions have come under fire for their volume levels, the speakers were loud and crisp at The Shack for Or:la's impressive set of urgent techno on Friday, just as they were for Job Jobse the next day, who played a crowd-pleasing selection of house and Italo bangers, including Dead Or Alive's "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)." That stage was also the most atmospheric, its industrial aesthetic and sunken earth dance floor giving the impression we were lightyears away from civilisation, rather than 30 minutes from London. The weekend boasted a generous spread of excellent DJs. Lena Willikens played weapon after weapon of silky techno in an expertly-paced set, a cigarette jutting confrontationally from her mouth. Zip's closing performance on Sunday, as the sunset filtered through the trees, was a masterclass in sultry minimalism. Young Marco and Optimo's back-to-back packed the most surprises, veering from the remorseless drums of Bleaker's "Hype (Funk)" to Abba. At one point, the signature vocal from Tessela's "Hackney Parrot" was humorously laid over a dusty new wave cut. Antal and Hunee also proved perfect closers on Sunday, playing disco and house that ranged from sleazy to joyous. A particular highlight was the changeover: Hunee applauded Antal's selections and took the reins, launching straight into Wolf Muller's dynamite edit of Barbatuques' "Baiana."
The most reliable stage for interesting music was the Campfire Headphase teepee, a womb-like space curated by Inverted Audio, softly lit and full of smoke. It provided the lion's share of my favourite musical moments, from superb sets by Galcher Lustwerk and DJ Richard to a pair of banging performances from Rezzett and Skee Mask on Friday. On Sunday, the Bristol label Bokeh Versions took over the tent for a day of deep dub and spacey reggae. There is still room for improvement at Farr. The security searches were erratic, sometimes jovial and sometimes unnecessarily aggressive. The decoration, at points, lacked cohesion. The main stage, Factory, also needed work. Its post-apocalyptic design concept seemed vague, while many DJs failed to build much energy, lost in the massive space. These are the signs of Farr transitioning from its intimate origins into a medium-sized festival. Capped a few years ago at 5,000 attendees, it anticipates double that figure by next year. The audience was one of the youngest I've seen at a dance music festival, and many seemed to be there to socialise as much as to dance, meaning that the crowds were frustratingly static during some sets, particularly on Friday. Farr might not be the headsiest event out there, but it served a different purpose: offering a space where people could escape and enjoy a long weekend of fun in an enchanted wood. Photo credit / James North Photography & Rob Jones