News

Beachdown Steps In To Help Bloom Festival

• 4th Aug 2009

Beachdown Festival has jumped to the aid of Bloom Festival, which has recently had to cancel this year’s event, by offering all ticket holders transferable passes to Beachdown which takes place on the beautiful South Downs this August Bank Holiday, 28th – 31st August.
Bloom Festival, which vows to return next year, is just one of many events that has struggled in the current economic climate. Beachdown is thrilled to be joined by Bloom Festival which will have it’s own tent at this year’s event – more details to come soon!
We are also excited to reveal the daily Main Stage line-up for Beachdown Festival 2009! Headlining on Friday will be Norman Jay, followed by The Zutons on Saturday, the fabulous Grace Jones will strut her stuff on Sunday and Ocean Colour Scene will wind things up on Monday.

They will be joined by:

Friday – Joey Negro, Laurent Garnier (live) and The Sunburst Band.
Saturday – Saint Etienne, The Fall, Grandmaster Flash, The Apples and Gilles Peterson.
Sunday – Super Furry Animals, Ida Maria, The Blockheads, Quantic and his Combo Barbaro, Mulatu Astatke and the Heliocentrics, Belleruche, Hospitality Records presents…. and Derrick May.
Monday – The Rakes, Prince Buster, Secret Affair, James Hunter and Snowboy and the Latin Section.
Festival booker Adrian Gibson, who spent 20 years working for Vince Power and Mean Fiddler Music Group before going solo last year, believes that festival goers are being drawn to this year’s event because “it’s the only truly independent festival in the UK right now with an amazing line up of live acts.”

But it’s not all about the music. One of the biggest praises of 2008 was the variety of food on offer. Local restaurants Indian Summer, Due South, Koba and Momma Cherrie were hugely popular and festival goers will be pleased to see them return this year. New additions this year will be Madame Geisha, La Vache Organic Steak, Storm Vegan, Gado Gado, Herman The German, Sativaom, Thai, Lation Feast, Pura Vida and Sea Cow. We are also pleased to announce that Pizza Express will be heading to the South Downs, making this their first outside catering at a festival venture! Furthermore prime drinks brands Sagres, Makers Mark, Chairmans Reserve, Pimms and Life Pure Water will all be contributing to the liquid diets of those in attendance!

Beachdown organisers have put a lot of time and energy into Kidsdown, a dedicated family area and a festival within a festival! Here festival goers will find a wealth of entertainment that will keep the young and young at heart amused in the form of a rolling programme of events covering the entire weekend.

Festival goers will be able to try out their skills in the circus big top, dabble in one of the many varied creative workshops or let their imaginations run wild at one of the facilitator drop-ins. Whether it’s making artwork for the tent, a headdress or designing your own Henna tattoos, there’s something here for everyone. There will be puppetry, interactive storytelling, music, walkabout acts and installations. For the really little people there will be the chance to get involved in the delights of a Yoga based play led by local Tatty Bumpkin leader and music sessions led by Music For Aardvarks.

In addition to all of this there will be things to climb on and soft play, so whilst the mini me’s get involved, parents and carers can find time to relax on one of the many Beachdown bean bags, recharge batteries and plan their own adventures for the hours ahead!

There will be a separate family camping area with its own toilet blocks and shower facilities that will be easily accessible from the parking area / bus drop off point. The area will provide a sanctuary for tired children away from the hub of the night time festival action.

Beachdown has also teamed up with Life Pure Water again this year, Brighton’s premier bottled water. For every bottle of Life Pure Water sold, they donate at least the same amount to a community in the developing world via the independent charity drop4drop. But Life’s involvement with Beachdown doesn’t stop there. The festival will not only be selling Life water to raise money for the world water crisis but will be drop4dropping the whole festival! So that means every litre of beer, cider, wine, chai, coffee, cocktails, biodiesel or any other measurable liquid will be matched in donated litres of water to the developing world. Thanks to Beachdown and Life Pure Water at least 100,000 litres of clean drinking water will be delivered to communities in Uganda and Malawi via sustainable water projects in autumn 2009. All festival goers have to do is keep themselves refreshed!

All recyclable materials will be recycled by Network Recycling; an educational, non-profit organization dedicated to the responsible enjoyment and active stewardship of the outdoors by all people, worldwide.

Beachdown Festival 2009 will see the return of The Big Lemon Bus! The buses, which are run on 100% recycled cooking oil, will shuttle festival goers between the city of Brighton and the festival site throughout the day and night, thus making it easy for locals or those who prefer to shack up in a warm hotel at the end of each day to get to and from the site without the hassle of parking or staying T-total!

Beachdown Festival, which saw 10,000 people descend on the South Downs last August, aims to be as carbon neutral as possible and was nominated for 2 Awards at the 2008 UK Festival Awards (Best New Festival and Best Innovation). It has a seven-year contract with the landowner making Beachdown a regular annual event in the festival goer’s diary!

Full line-up: Grace Jones, Ocean Colour Scene, The Zutons, Laurent Garnier (live), Super Furry Animals, The Rakes, Saint Etienne, Grandmaster Flash, Prince Buster and the Delroy Williams Junction Band, The Fall, Ida Maria, Alice McLaughlin, Mulatu Astatke and the Heliocentrics, Quantic and his Combo Barbaro, James Hunter, Acid House Brass, Band, Secret Affair, Joey Negro and the Sunburst Band, The Blockheads, James Taylor Quartet, Dreadzone, Gilles, Peterson, Jazzanova, The Apples, Snowboy and the Latin Section, Jazz CoTech Dancers, Lack of Afro, Nostalgia 77 Octet, Laura Izibor, Belleruche, The Impellers, Funkshone, The Fantastics!, Jah Shaka Sound System 3 day residency, Favela Chic Arena of Stupidity 4 day residency ft Radio Favela, Belleruche (Live), Swap-A-Rama, Zeep Acoustic, Renegade Cinema, The Wheel of Bestune compered by Gringo Da Parada, Ross Clarke, Clek Clek Boom ft Tchiky and Monsieur Boo, Savoir Faire Soundsystem, Sofrito Sound System, Vibes Unlimited, Healer Selecter, Super, Cinema, Cool Cabaret, Postonove Madness, Baile Beats, Samba Stupidity.

Club nights: Blah Blah Blah, Dub Pressure, Slackers Convention ft Pav Luquas and Dirtbomb, Go Bang!, Shameless vs Pop Musik with special guests The Food Fighters and The Justice Force 5 plus Tatoo Parlour, Face Painting, Dance Offs and Competitions, Spellbound, JFB and Ed Solo present Multijam, Playgroup ft Manjinga 7, Kalakuta Millionairs, AK/DK, The Devils Way, Bad Sandwich, Beatabet Band, The Resonator Plus DJ¹s Shamblin Sexton, Baca Maraca, Chiv, Dad Disko, Somewhere in the Universe, Stick it On, full line up TBA, Roots Garden Present Nation Vibration Sound System ft Manasseh, MC Kenny Knots and Leroy Horn, Supercharged ft Cagedbaby, Stero:Type and Sneaky, Ocean Rooms presents Our Friends Electric with very special guest, JP presents Return of The Funky Man, Grace Jones After Party with Wild Fruits Jon Byrne and Dulcie Danger, Tru Thoughts ft Rob Luis, Natural Self and Kinny, Mufflewuffle, Balearic Jukebox ft Trevor Fung.

DJ line-up: Youth ft Zoe, Dub House Disco ft Greg Wilson, Derrick May (& Jim Masters), Soft Rocks and Weirdo Police (live), Wayne Hemingway, Ben Balafonic, Kliks ft Dan Bell, A Guy Called Gerald, Mia, Alex Smoke, Lee Smith and Mark Lerman, Breakin Bread ft DJ Skeg, Nealy Wheely and Natural Self, Good Times ft Norman Jay, Dave Lee, Craig Woodrow, Hospitality ft High Contrast, Skream, London Elektricity, Ed Rush, Cyantific, Caspa, Break, Randomer, Rod Azlan, MC Wrec and Script, Skints Damian Harris and Andy Mac, Gordon Kaye.

Favela Chic will be taking up a 4-day residency in its own purpose-built and designed arena complete with a full Latin artist and DJ line-up. For those who aren’t familiar, Favela Chic is the self professed brainchild of a Franco-Brazilian marriage with recent English adoptions, it is a bar, restaurant, club, carnivale, an East End knees up, a bordello and none of the above! Favela Chic is three years young in London and twelve years old in Paris, it has a Brazilian cuisine, a French style and a London attitude.

Following on from the success of last years’ inaugural event, Beachdown Festival is continuing its promise to support local talent and has already booked a strong line up of new and emerging Brighton acts. The full line-up for the Concorde2 Brighton Band Stage is: Rebel Control, Popes of Chillitown, Drookit Dogs, Wobbly Squadron, 4 or 5 Magicians, The Beautiful Word, Hold Fire, Cloud Ants, Luke Sital Singh, Red Sharks in Vegas, Mean Poppa Lean, Gloria Cycles, Doll and the Kicks, Fitsroy, The Perils, Capital, Ocean Reid, Sweet Sweet Lies, Floors and Walls, The Plymouths, Astro Physics Band, Goodbye Stereo, Two Spot Gobi, Los Albertos, Transformer, Marina (Nouvelle Vague), Chris Simmons, The Third Man, Saw Gang Buzz, Portslade, Cordelia Fellowes Gypsy Squat Pop Prjoect, Seeker, The Half Sisters, Monkey Sons, The Mojo Fins, The Adam Davis Band, The Xcerts, The Telegraphs, Arthur, Heels Catch Fire, Ettin, Pippa Drysdale, Lost Aura, Civilian, Emily Baker, Kiina, Gentleman Starkey.