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EVENTS
Why Farr Festival keeps us coming back for more
House | Sunday 16th September 2018 |
For us, its been another memorable year coming back to Farr festival for their 9th edition. This is one festival that has truly and honestly grown on me over the last 2 years, its so boutique and the crowd are literary just the friendliest I've experienced at any UK festival. The whole affair fuses a cutting-edge music policy, like-minded individuals and a late music licence within a charming little clearing in Hertfordshire's Bygrave Woods.
Ok, so I was a little disappointed that Moodyman was dropped a few weeks before the festival, but with Roman Flugel, Dixon, Shy FX all representing different scales of the dance music scenes and a little of something we all love, we had to make that short trip up the A1 from London to check it out.
The weather was just perfect given the sticky climate, the Farr faithful were clearly overjoyed, with most revelling in the recent England victory over Switzerland that Sat afternoon. This added to the overall atmosphere and certainly became a talking point with many throughout the night. We were slightly gutted that we couldn't check out the shenanigans on Friday, however, we didn't dwell on what "could have been" too much and dived straight into the action checking out the legendary house guru Terry Farley who was having it out "back 2 back style" with Darren Nunes. It's always good seeing some of the younger generations really getting down to some of the classics that made of the early foundations of house music and to be honest, you couldn't really get a better teacher than Farr Festival's wise old faithful, Terry Farley.
Not wanting to overstay our welcome nor miss out on any of the other talents billed for the evening, we made the short trip to the Shack to catch the last hour of Berlin-based house and techno-wizard, Dixon. Captivating the crowd seemed to be no problem for Mr Steffen Berkhahn, aka Dixon, as he expertly crafted his set which was entwined with a plethora of emotions, with his mix unfolding towards its towering peak for a blistering finale.
The overall layout has grown in size over the years without losing any of its organic nature and it's feisty independent, non-commercial appeal which you see taking over at many festivals all around the globe. One of the surprise sets that totally took us away was Lena Willikens over at the "Adventures of success" stage. She absolutely ripped up the place and had the crowd playing out the palm of her hand. Its so easy to see why she has been called one of Europe's most compelling selectors, her choice of tracks was emphatic as well as unique.
If you never been to Farr before, its hard to describe what you're missing out on. In fact, when you do go, you almost want to keep it a secret due to its beautiful settings, unique vibe and friendliness of the crowd. The forward-thinking music programming creates that perfect sonic bliss and you can't do much better for a location too. It almost reminds me of the early days of the Secret Garden Party which embodies the very nature of festival hedonism and debauchery. Farr Festival has definitely come a long way since it's inception, but am glad to say, in the most organic and natural way.
Our standout track of Farr is:
PHOTO CREDITS: @jamesnorthphoto and @hirobjones
