NEWS
EVENTS
Under the stars at Farr Festival
As far as boutique festivals go, Farr Festival’s intimate gathering seems to fit's that description perfectly. Set amidst the leafy confinements of Hertfordshire in Bygreave Woods, it gives lovers of Electronica a chance to savour Farr Festival's eclectic selection of producers and deejays set within carefully selected clearings and spaces set deep into the woods.
With us not having to venture too Farr (get it) out of London, our Friday couldn’t have started any better with us arriving to catch the last half of a B2B special with Midland, Joy Orbison and Ben UFO. It’s not the 1st time these three have thrashed it out together, but it’s a rare occasion this side of the pond. As expected the remaining 2 hours were varied with different styles as they switched between themselves to carve an excellent combined set with lots of surprises in-between (including a power cut) which kept the friendly and cheerful Farr Fest revellers jolted down and shuffling for more as they seemed to be at one with their natural surroundings.
One thing you notice is that everything is actually not that “Farr" (sorry) apart. It's laid out logically making it not to strenuous to get from one stage to another. Less is by Farr (last time, promise) more here, as you notice that a lot of thought and work has gone ino building the the well placed staging, creating visuals for the audience which were organically raw and with a unique primitive feel. The main thing, which was a massive bonus was having a great sound system which didn't have to adhere to ridiculously low sound level restrictions which affect lots of inner city festivals.
The Friday highlights for us were Jeremey Underground and his funked out disco house fusion providing great depth and bouncy tripped out beats that bring a happy and uplifting vibe which cemented that perfect party atmosphere we were experiencing under the tress. Complimenting Jeremey wonderfully afterwards was Hunee who came with those funked out raw quality house beats that closed down The Shack splendidly. The rest of the weekend saw us catching the likes of Jungle DJ, Gilles Peterson, Move D and Detroit Swindle in equal measures.
It’s refreshing to have a Festival that doesn’t suffer the usual commercialism that House and Techno events have seen of late with Farr Festival's small bunch of dedicated people busy working and striving to create their own unique vibe that has a magically raw underground feel to it. The intimate feel that all of the outdoor stages have only compliments the whole ethos of Farr. We really and truly can’t wait to see this one come around next year as it quickly becomes a firm favourite in our festival calendar.
