How to Build a Festival

Episode 23 - Deer Shed Festival Director Oliver Jones talks to us about how it all really works

We were very lucky this week to have the chance to meet Oliver Jones, co-Festival Director of Deer Shed Festival, a superb and long running independent festival in Thirsk, in the north of England that starred HTBAF favourites CMAT, deadletter, Jessica Winter, James Ngonda and Personal Trainer in 2024. Oliver talks to us about what makes Deer Shed unique, the challenges facing independent festivals, and gives plenty of great advice and food for thought for those thinking about starting something new.

Episode 22 - End of the Road Recap - DJ Rach & Cat

Our unofficial End of the Road recap - the last summer festival of the year and there’s lots to talk about, including performances by Bonnie Prince Billy, CMAT, Malice K, Jalen Ngonda, Master Peace, Snooper, Brown Horse, Phosphorescent and more.
The team get the opportunity to DJ and meet some of our friends from the world of festivals, and take inspiration from the brilliant community of this festival

Episode 21 - End of the Road Unofficial Preview, Oasis and All Points East

The gang are excited for End of the Road, and run through what we’re looking forward to including Bonnie Prince Billy, Jess Williamson and Holiday Ghosts. We talk about the Oasis reunion and our days at All Points East over the Bank Holiday weekend

Episode 20 - Green Man Recap

Our Green Man run through - what we loved, how the festival is evolving and how we dodged the diablos. We talk about the Wishbone, the new Rising Stage, the brilliant artists we saw including Getdown Services, Big Thief, Sampha, Royel Otis and more…

Episode 19 - Green Man Festival preview, plus Deer Shed Festival and Uptown Festival recaps

We preview our favourite festival, Green Man, before its 2024 edition. Then the gang recap Deer Shed Festival and Uptown Festival as well as discussing some of what we’ve been learning for our own festival.
We talk about the excellent recent new acts we’ve seen including deadletter, Tapir!, Man/Woman/Chainsaw and Ross admits Personal Trainer won’t win the Mercury Prize

Episode 18 - Catch up with Festival Sounds on volunteering, new festivals and our favourite 2024 festivals yet to come

Episode 18 - We catch up with Festival Sounds Podcast to talk festival volunteering, test what would convince them to try a new festival, and talk about our favourite late season festivals including Green Man, Shambala, End of the Road and Boomtown

Episode 17 - Bitesized Deer Shed preview, our first festival of the year - plus Truck and Tramlines

Ross and Rach do a Quick Look ahead to Deer Shed , Truck and Tramlines all happening this weekend - one for your journey! And Ross gets confused about the Mercury list, but huge congrats to two podcast favourites, corto.alto and CMAT for their noms

Episode 16 - Glastonbury recap and our interview with Leo, founder of the brand new On the Meadow Festival

Today Ross and Cat break down the Glastonbury experience from outside the fence, and then we get back to learning about how to go about starting one of our own as Rach and Cat speak with Leo from On the Meadow Festival, a brand new event taking place this year, about how he’s pulled it all together and how he hopes it will support independent music, as well as his festival experiences and why he’s looking to do it.

Episode 15 - Playing at Glastonbury and building sustainability and accessibility into festivals all over the country

Our last pre-Glastonbury pod, and we were chuffed to sit down with Andrew Lansley, a man who has played Glastonbury many times and also works with festivals all over the country to help build sustainability and accessibility into the delivery of the festival. We ask what it’s actually like to perform at Glasto, and dig in to some of the great initiatives going on at festivals including Cheltenham Festivals, Glastonbury, 2000 Trees and others to make a better experience for everyone.

Episode 14 - Glastonbury 2024 Early Preview - Plus Taylor Swift, Isle of Wight, This Feeling and Coast

No we’re not going this year, but before we get too sad to talk about it, we get our early Glastonbury 2024 preview in early and share our tips and tricks for getting the best out of the week, as well as our personal lineup highlights. We run through other festivals coming up in June and talk about upcoming Taylor Swift and This Feeling events