Music Festival Season: DJ B-Fly's Top Five

Following on from last week’s Lessons from the UK, I talked to DJ B-Fly about his epic festival adventures over the British summer.

But first, who is this DJ B-Fly? With over 15 years in the game, B-fly has deejayed at festivals, clubs and parties across the UK, Europe as well touring to New York. He currently holds a residency at one of London's best known underground raves, Planet Angel and has been hand-picked by Allowance Records. Over the years B-Fly has been on the lookout for new and exciting sounds. From the early days of big beat to ghetto funk and electric swing. His dynamic and evolving style ensures fun music for good times and dancing.

Photo by James Murton

Euro Bugin, Chimey, Belgium

First stop on DJ B-Fly’s 2013 festival circuit was Euro Bugin. Held in the brewery town of Chimey – you know, the Trappist beer – Euro Bugin is the largest Volkswagen festival in Europe. Yes, there's more than one and this is the biggest.

The two roads into town were closed during the festival to make way for a drag strip, which is bordered by an off-road track and a burn out area specially reserved for tyre shredding. By day the punters explored the fields (and fields) packed with all varieties of VWs, the prestigious ‘show and shine’ display, and pit lane where teams of engineers work on their race cars before launching them on the strip. Alternatively, there was the option to simply chill out and relax by their tents or kombis, drinking beer, and regaling impressive VW experiences. By night it was live acts and DJs.

The sound of tyres squealing and revving engines was constant; however it was muffled by the non-stop rain, day and night, on the Friday. A flooded strip put the drag racers into park, but one man’s demise is another’s delight as the rain made for perfect conditions over on the off-road track. And of course, it makes for great chilling and drinking weather.

DJ B-Fly’s highlight – deejaying to a crowd of around 1,000 from the inside of a VW campervan on stage, quite literally bounding around due to the van’s suspension, or lack thereof!

Chilled in a Field, Kent

Chilled in Field, or simply Chilled, is run by the people behind London’s longest running club night events, Planet Angel. Planet Angel aims to bring creativity, colour and fun to its events, and Chilled is no different. Set in the grounds of a manor house in the Kent countryside, Chilled is a family friendly weekend of workshops, live music and DJs.

This year around 500 people – some hippies, some 90s ravers-cum-parents, and others loyal ‘Planeteers’ – made their way out of town to enjoy the relaxed daytime atmosphere, and to dance their nights away, although not too late as this is a family friendly event. The line-up featured live music from the Handsome Jack Show Band rocking through some indie rock classics, followed by DJs including three sets over five days from B-Fly himself.

Possibly not best classified as an outright music festival, Chilled in a Field is an amped up village fete meets alternative family getaway – with something for the parents and the kids. It still managed to rock the music, there’s plenty to keep you entertained and importantly, well fed.

BoomTown, Mattersley Bowl, Winchester

BoomTown takes place in a natural bowl, and is a collection of purpose built small ‘towns’ including Chinatown, Mayfair and Trenchtown around which some 30,000 Boomtownies camp. This year B-Fly strategically placed himself by the reggae field of Trenchtown. Not a bad choice, as the music was soothing and the proximity to the gate made for a quick getaway at the festival’s end.

The scale of BoomTown is massive, and a specific GPS app would have been handy! Once again there were places for the kids, arts and crafts, fantastic food, and of course, the music. Adding to the atmosphere, the towns featured backdrops reminiscent of film sets, including a breath taking Aztec inspired temple and a giant boom box. The Arcadia Spider in the middle of Down Town, with its fire and lasers looked like it had been bought second hand following U2’s 360 World Tour.

The British love a dress up, and BoomTown brings it, with punters in fancy dress from dawn till dawn. Incidentally, a dinosaur onesie comes in very handy during the chillier morning hours. The food options were also great, and it has to be said that the toilets were not nearly as bad as you’d expect from an event attended by 30,000 people. Although, this might be because a lot of people found it easier to just go in the woods.

Musically, the highlights have to be the live gypsy swing band Flap, as well as the hefty dose of drum and bass, breaks and ghetto funk from the DJs. Over at the Rave Yard, set in the grounds of a church (geddit?), hard core and hard house set the grounds vibrating, followed up by some psy-trance, which although not to B-Fly’s taste shows there’s something for everyone at BoomTown. On the whole, this festival is a definite goer according to B-Fly who reckons the event is likely to keep on growing in the future.

The Summer House Weekend, Surrey

After the blowout that was BoomTown, time for something a little more chilled says B-Fly, finding himself at yet another country house, this time in the hills of Surrey. The Summer House Weekend is run by the man behind the successful White Mischief, famed for its cabarets, elaborate fancy dress policies and that essential element of naughtiness. This event lives up to expectations.

The various daytime workshops offered interesting ways for attendees to get to know each other…really know each other, including speed meeting and talks on fairly intimate subjects. This event is like no other, and the Saturday night dress up theme – this year Once Upon a Midsummer Night’s Dream – is strict. Don’t distress, there was a fancy dress workshop ahead of time for those in need of inspiration. One highlight came a bit of a surprise – the cuddle workshop – all about the human touch, consent and ended in a big cuddle puddle (or one massive spoon-fest).

On the lawn B-Fly officially (totally unofficially) took matters into his own masterful hands after discovering tunes were coming courtesy of an iPod. No one seemed bothered by his three hour sets though, from which he subsequently scored some new gigs. Not, officially, bad.

The property featured a small lake, next to which was a sauna, and between which lots of naked attendees ran. There was also a campfire and tents for changing in and just generally chilling out. But this was a decadent event, with bedrooms in the house available for the weekend, glamping options, and lavish meals served through several sittings in the large dining room.

As the evenings fell, the music also moved inside beginning with cabaret, followed by DJs until close. Of course, there was also the Playroom for those who have found someone to ‘play’ with – let’s not discuss that, and say we did. Not quite what you’d call a festival, rather a weekend retreat for naughty people, this event managed to be a bit posh but also very free spirited. As for B-Fly, after taking over the daytime deejaying, sweating it out in the sauna and relaxing by the fire, he felt better when he left than he did upon arrival!

Shambala, Northampton

And so to the final festival of the season; Shambala is a family friendly festival with a lot going on to keep the 8,000 or so attendees entertained including a cinema, theatre, dance workshops, arts and crafts, two large stages for music and a tent, which by day hosted ping pong and roller disco while by night became the main dance hall. Also dotted around the site were a number of smaller areas perfect for stumbling upon.

Shambala was by far the friendliest festival of the season, which doesn’t come as a surprise given it had its own healing field with yoga classes and massage, intended to keep everyone calm, relaxed and at ease. Add to this quality live acts, including in hidden locations dotted around the site, making for an amazing experience to end the season on. The main stage played host to some pretty big names in world music; however some were unfortunately missed as it was just too easy to lose track of time – and the schedule – when chatting to punters in the comfy seating scattered about.

While generally conveying a hippy vibe, the highlight of the event for B-Fly was the Police Rave Unit, or PRU. The PRU consisted of a police transit van (presumably ex-police) with the roof removed, a DJ booth built into it and a simple but effective sound system. The PRU travelled around the site as people followed. Dressed in police uniforms the PRU crew took great delight in stopping by the craft workshops or people chilling by the lake to demand the constituents ‘rave hard’. B-Fly was singled out for bad behaviour and instructed to ‘glug that cocktail’. One can only oblige. The yogis in the Healing Field were too much for the PRU to resist, however that was only until an announcement over the PA asking them – the PRU, not the yogis – to kindly ‘push on’.

Shambala had something stimulating for all. While not the mega rave of BoomTown, if you looked carefully there were smaller parties to be found after hours. Although popular, according to B-Fly, Shambala doesn’t seem to be growing. It remains one of the larger festivals, but manages to retain a sense of something more intimate. A perfect all-rounder on which to end the season.

B-Fly's Top Tips for Festival Goers

 
1. *Arrive early to get a good spot.
2. *Plan well in advance when using public transport. Some festivals can be out of the way and hard to get to, so you'll be competing with fellow festival goers for local services.
3. *Pace yourself, it's a marathon not a sprint. Make sure you eat, sleep and keep hydrated!
4. *For the budget conscious, take sealed packs of food. For a touch of luxury take a coffee percolator (and coffee). This will also make you very popular on the mornings after.
5. *While it's good to see the acts you like, a festival is the perfect place to discover new music. You're almost guaranteed to come across a band or DJ you've never heard of but will think is brilliant.
6. *Be sociable. Talk to people and take advantage of the festival vibe.
7. *Arrange meeting places with your friends in case someone gets lost, but if possible stay together and look after each other. Otherwise, finding your mates amongst a crowd of 30,000 is just not going to happen.
8. *Don't take anything you can't afford to lose (you really won't be needing the iPod!). And be prepared to lose something, it's a music festival, it's gonna happen.

 -Eliza Rose Harper