ARCADIA SPECTACULAR 2012 ANTICS | Festival News

Boomtown / Bestival / India / USA

The mechanical fire breathing beast of Arcadia, that has presided as a towering inferno over Glastonbury for over the past four years, has been given a year off for good behaviour and is all set to take the metallic, pyrotechnic extravaganza on tour!

With the granddaddy of festivals Glastonbury taking a well earned rest this year, there has been many murmurings as to where the ultimate showstopper The Arcadia Spectacular, will be pitching up in 2012. So to put all the rumours to bed here is the official full run down of their antics and excursions over the coming months. Including the brand new, exclusive, one-off show with the mega 50 tonne spider structure for BoomTown Fair and the collaboration of imported fire art, circus and mechanical sculptures at Bestival! On top of this they will be heading abroad for some foreign inspiration and reclamation jaunts!

Born from a love of scrap, fire and supreme craftsmanship, Arcadia are known for putting on the definitive, out-of-this-world immersive festival experience! With their monstrous moveable sculptures, awe inspiring pyrotechnics, laser shows, gravity defying aerial performances and one heck of a pounding sound-system, Arcadia have flourished in their Glastonbury home, as well as the wider festival circuit, over the past four years; building up an unrivalled reputation within the festival scene.

This year Arcadia are taking to the road, crash landing on the outskirts of BoomTown for their brand new, one and only full-scale performance of the year. Arcadia will take over a whole area with the monstrous Spider, fully equipped with all the lasers, light shows and gargantuan flames that have become expected at the Glastonbury shows, but with some BoomTown specific modifications added to ramp up the beast for this exclusive ‘rave meets circus with an aliens twist’ show!

As well as bafflingly brilliant sculptures, the Arcadia crew are also known for their mind bending, heavy duty bass bashing line-ups! BoomTown is set for ‘shake’ with the line-up Arcadia have in store for them, consisting of: Dirtyphonics / Krafty Kuts / Stanton Warriors / Shy FX / Plump DJ's / Peo de Pitte / Foamo & Rack N Ruin present Gorgon City Serum / Sub Slayers Takeover / Far Too Loud Live / Chris Liberator b2b D.A.V.E. The Drummer / Ratpack.

In addition to the Spider stage installation at BoomTown, Arcadia will be showcasing what is believed to be; The largest fire art in the world coming direct from Burning Man this will be the first ever time it has been seen in the UK; Lords of Lightning from New Zealand– Harnessing 4 million volts of raw electricity, witness a two man duel with ACTUAL lightening, this literally hair raising show has to be seen to be believed! The Armadillo - 6 wheeled animated sound system sculpture built out of a tank causing mayhem wherever it goes!

Arcadia’s other major appearance at a UK festival this year will be their regular end of season appearance at Bestival, with a massive outdoor Cabaret that plays host to some of the best jaw dropping circus acts, mechanical sculptures and fire art from around the globe! On top of the Cabaret, Arcadia will provide a new mini 360^o stage, The UFO in place of The Afterburner and will be slamming out tunes between jaw dropping performances.

Aside from the fully fledged Arcadia appearances at BoomTown and Bestival, keep an eye out for some of the recognisable structures and vehicles at other events, such as the new The UFO at Rockness, and the famous flaming lampposts and lightning men at BrisFest.

Adding another string to their bow, Arcadia are all set to take to the seas to spread the word far and wide! In a few weeks time, ‘Arcadia Abroad’ will commence with a two week trip to India spent with local artists and engineers touring giant ship scrapyards with the aim to design an installation that can tour across India this winter, each with a unique twist added by locals using local materials.

Then at the end of the UK summer Arcadia will be heading out to the USA for a new event Catalpa in New York City and then a final pilgrimage to contribute to Burning Man in September.

With each festival, event and reclamation trip that Arcadia encounter, the team, inspiration and skills grow. In the way their sculptures are an ever-evolving mechanism, so too are the crew behind it; filtering down from the founders underlying mission to inspire, recycle, support and expand on the grass roots and underground raw talent within the arts and party scenes in the UK. Arcadia truly is an untamed beast, spawned from a twisted liaison between metal, fire, sculpture, electricity and music, where the creativity and skills know no bounds!

Where to catch Arcadia this Summer:

UK Dates:

When: 8^th – 10^th June – Rockness

What: New 360⁰ DJ stage -The UFO. NB: Hire Only. Arcadia will not be hosting there in-house line-up on this stage this year

When: 9^th – 11^th August - BoomTown

What: The Ultimate, Brand new, Exclusive show (normally reserved for Glastonbury), Lords of Lightening, mega Fire Show and The Armadillo.

When: 6^th – 9^th September – Bestival

What: Massive outdoor Cabaret, collaboration of shows imported from around the globe. 360⁰ mini venue – UFO Stage

When: 22^nd & 23^rd September – BrisFest

What: Small sculptures. Lords of Lightning . NB: Hire Only.

European dates

When: 29-30^th June - Fusion Festival – Germany