The sun is struggling to get going the wind is blustery and I am starting to get a little nervous of the amount of stuff we have going on for 2016. However……. it’s what we do…. Come – you’ll love it!
BTW – the forecast is 25c and full sunshine for the last weekend in July. Which is jammy luck on my part. I also use We and I interchangeably below. Sorry….
Livestock Longdon takes place on the last weekend of July in the heart of rural Gloucestershire beneath the Malvern Hills. Three days of Glamping, Camping, Dancing and Great Live Music. Join us, in a very pretty spot, for a relaxed weekend of the best gourmet food and local ciders in the sunshine watching great local bands and massive headliners Reef, Reverend and the Makers, The Fratellis, Jason Donovan and Chesney Hawkes. http://www.livestocklongdon.co.uk/
In it’s second year Livestock Festival continues it’s very strong start last year with a great line up of Headliners supported by nearly 100 new bands. Both local and national. Pushing new music is one of the greatest joys of running a Festival. Headliners are brilliant but it’s the discovery of new and upcoming bands that makes it all so exciting and worthwhile.
Friday Rock Day! – Reef
Saturday – The Fratellis with Reverend & The Makers
Sunday – Fancy Dress Day – Livestock Theme – Jason Donovan and Chesney Hawkes.
I get asked this question all the time and it’s been the most difficult question to answer. I originally wanted a Festival of new music with classic headliners crossed with a local farmers market. A sort of food festival with great bands. However this proved to be very difficult to pull together. Running a Event Organising company every other weekend of the year I found the bands, tents, staging, licensing and the general event organising easy. We owned the farm and most of the kit needed and knew how to ask for the big names. However we didn’t appreciate quite how small and boutique the food stalls were. We were unable to give them any idea of guest numbers and they were used to going to run a market stall for a morning, not a 10am to 3am festival food van for three days. I couldn’t get them to commit. They would not buy in. So we had to major on street food and what a great decision this turned out to be.
Livestock Longdon’s first year turned out to be much more successful than we could have hoped for. We though we would be welcoming 500 people per day to Manor Farm. Nearly 5000 turned up over the three days! Over 50 people gave us 5 star reviews on Facebook and 450 responded to our post event survey – 99% loved us…. Big heads all round. But there was so much we could do for year two. So much to improve, so much to enhance and so much more we wanted to do.
I want Livestock to be bigger but we hit the small, personal, local, boutique festival nail on the head in year one. We don’t want it to be too big so we have restricted sales to 5000 in total on site. This keeps it manageable and, given that we are spread over 100 acres (that’s a lot), we can spread people out. Campsites are huge, quiet, VIP, Glamping and close to the main arena. With clear skies you can star gaze as we are in a particularly dark spot without light pollution. That’s why we turn off the campsite lighting after midnight. You’ll need a torch to find your way to your tent and to the loo (which have LED lights inside, so you can find your pants!) – Pitches are large, you and park your car next to your tent, gather your friends about you and make your own special spot. The grass is flat and we are on old established meadow grassland so it’s soft! Finally the campsites are close to the festival arena. At it’s furthest point you will only have to walk about 1000m. At the closest it’s about 100m.
I have not only increased the food stalls but also increased the variety – Yes we have chips this year (we forgot last year – not sure how!) but also vegetarian options and gluten free, should you feel the need. Don’t worry all you meat eaters will be overwhelmed with the selection. We have food in the campsites, phone charging, a corner shop for all non food essentials plus, in the main bar and at the main stage, we have WiFi so you can get your selfies out to your absent friends.
We are trying not to be too cool. We are not cool. We don’t pretend to be – but some of the bands are very cool and at other festivals this can lead to 50 bands so new they don’t know what they are doing and don’t know what works for festival audiences. We carefully curate our bands to make sure they actually know how to perform.
We have three stages to push new music on. The acoustic stage shares it’s space with the Comedy Bus – This is where you can stop for a drink, discover new music and if you’re (un)lucky you might get dragged into an interactive comedy sketch.
On the Woodland Stage next to the Bloody Mary Boogie Bar are the more established new bands. Bands that have a full set to perform. Grab yourself a wooden bench or hay bale seat and get those Bloody Marys down you as you discover bands that one day will be on the main stage. Later at night, in the woods, after a few wobble juice ciders, you might find yourself involved in a silent disco. Which to be honest – sounds dreadful – but, if you’ve never tried it I guarantee it will be your new secret guilty pleasure!
Obviously the main stage hosts the Headliners and the big bands but after the talent has left the building we are turning the main stage and marquee into a full on hands in the air dance tent till 3am. Rave on.
It feels like there are a 1000 other things to do around the whole site from bush craft and fire building to pony ride, tractor rides, horse and carriage rides- little ones can even sit on a giant tortoise (he likes it apparently???!!)- Apart from all the 1800’s transport options there are climbing walls, science show, crafting, Rugby lessons (for kids) etc etc etc and a tuck shop. There are woodland walks and if you can talk my brother into it – he might take you on a farm walk. Guess the number of sheep and of course, on Sunday, there is the Fancy Dress Competition. Livestock Theme.
There are many more ideas and activities taking place over the weekend. Three days really. Come.