Homepage Splash

STANDON CALLING celebrates industry-leading festival return

• 10th Aug 2021

Thousands of festival fans flocked to Standon Calling to enjoy an incredible weekend of music, comedy and family entertainment as the event was hailed as a huge success by organisers and festival goers alike – despite Mother Nature’s best efforts!

Marking the first-time a full-capacity UK music festival (outside of the Government’s Event Research Programme) has taken place in nearly two years, Standon Calling organisers worked tirelessly to deliver an emphatic return which saw families and friends gather together to dance in the magic only music festivals can bring. The result was a weekend where festival fans were once again free to enjoy the thrills and excitement of getting back into the fields to enjoy memorable sets from headliners Bastille Reorchestrated (joined onstage during the set by rising superstar Griff)and Hot Chip (the latter featuring iconic special guest Jarvis Cocker), alongside stunning highlights from the likes of Sister Sledge, Everything Everything, Mahalia, surprise new additions Shame, Icelandic Eurovision sensation Daði Freyr, Holly Humberstone, Mystery Jets, Baby Queen and many many more.Kids were entertained throughout with sets from Horrible Histories Live and Dick ‘n’ Dom’s famous DJ Battle seeing huge crowds gather with smiles beaming from ear to ear, whilst the famous Standon Calling Dog Show and Costume Parade added to the plethora of thrilling new sounds and delights to be found at every corner of the festival. 

Unfortunately, Standon Calling was forced to close its doors early on Sunday evening following a lightning storm and flash flooding caused by the intense rainfall that saw Hertfordshire experience more rainfall in two hours than an average month of July experiences in total. Affecting not just the festival site, but the surrounding area and across a number of parts of South-East England – its impact didn’t dampen spirits, as remaining festival-goers came together across the site to forge new friendships and memories after a weekend full of gratitude and celebration after missing out on these moments for so long. 

More than that, Standon Calling 2021 offered a welcome return to communal celebration – and signposted how large-scale outdoor events can run in a risk-reducing manner – thanks to the implementation of an industry-leading Pre-Event Covid Certification Process (PCCP), ensuring a reassuring experience for all attendees.

The Pre-Event Covid Certification Process (PCCP), the first of its kind created in collaboration with certification app Certific and experts at Imperial College London, involved:

• All ticket holders taking a pre-event lateral flow test, filmed using the Certific app with results uploaded into its system.
• Test certification being granted on a negative result after evaluation from experts at Certific.
• A weekend ‘certification’ allows fans the opportunity to return to festivals with the peace of mind that all attendees have followed the same procedure.

Speaking about the return of Standon Calling, Founder and Festival Director Alex Trenchard said:
“As an independent festival, to say that the past two years have been challenging would be an understatement – but being able to see the joy and celebration in the air as our beloved Standon Calling family returned last weekend was nothing short of incredible. Being able to be together again and revel in incredible new memories was an emotional experience for our team and made all the stress and difficulties worthwhile. To be able to bring Standon Calling back to life this weekend, despite not being a part of the Government’s Event Research Programme, is something that I will not forget anytime soon – and I hope all who made this festival weekend so special will carry with them the memories of this momentous occasion. Whilst we had to cut the party short, I want to thank everyone who made this year’s Standon Calling such an unbelievable experience and who stuck with us over the past two years – I can’t wait to see you all once again in 2022”.