10th, 11th & 12th June 2011, Houghton Hall, Norfolk
Glade Festival has had its fair share of problems recently. Last year it was cancelled due to unreasonable security and stewarding demands placed on it by Hampshire Police, who were less than supportive of this grassroots venture and purposefully delayed organisational decisions to throw numerous spanners in to the works. Not ones to give up on a good thing, the organisers all seemed to agree that the way the yearly festival had grown since its inception in 2004 was unsustainable, and that the best approach would be to strip it back to its bare bones.
We couldn’t agree more, because events like this are always best when they are done on a small, intimate scale.
After more issues involving the original venue for this year, Glade 2011 will now take place at Houghton Hall near King’s Lynn on the weekend of 10th, 11th and 12th June, and we would highly advise anyone who is serious about electronic music to make the trip. Set across a number of stages, this offshoot of Glastonbury is as chilled as they come, offering mind food for the hungriest of ravers.
The Glade stage will host performances from Trentemøller, Adam Beyer, Global Communication, Andrew Weatherall, Photek, Sub Focus, Krafty Kuts and Dub Pistols, to name but a few.
Those with slightly harder tastes will undoubtedly gravitate towards the Overkill stage, which will welcome sets from Africa Hitech, Luke Vibert, Goth Trad, Eskmo, the DJ Producer, Broken Note, Loops Haunt and Warrior One, as well as Sheffield’s finest mash-up kings the Squire of Gothos.
The Origin stage is nirvana for psytrance and acid techno fans, while the BETA stage will offer more garage-inspired tunes, delivered by the likes of Hyetal, Blawan, Midland, Moska and Untold.
Numerous other areas of the festival give it a well-rounded, welcoming village vibe, with hot food of the highest quality and all manner of tea and cakes for the parched.
In short, this is the festival for you if you like forward thinking electronic music of all types, and also boasts perhaps the most friendly, relaxed atmosphere you will encounter at any dance event in the UK.
Buy tickets here, priced at £135 plus booking and transaction fees.
