Festivals For All caught up with Nick Chambers, one of the guys behind Lancashire’s Beat-Herder Festival; an event that one of our seasoned FFA reviewers stated was one of THE festival of 2012. We were keen to discover the story behind this very special event where relaxed creativity, imagination, stunning line-ups, and top facilities attract one of the friendliest festival crowds around. We discovered from Nick a burning desire to share the love with like-minded people, the importance of retaining ones principles in keeping the ‘underground music’ faith, whilst putting on such a party that it could teach many a large corporate event a lesson or two.

FFA - So why Beat-Herder?

One of the many reasons when we started this eight years ago was because there was not really anything like this in the region. We are really happy that from our humble beginnings (laughs) we are now putting on international artists as well as all the quality local acts & upcoming bands and DJ’s. As times gone on its good to get the respect, not that we’re seeking that, but when it becomes loved by so many then it becomes special.

The six of us that run the festival have all been music lovers and friends from school and all been to festivals together. We’ve put our own parties on and I think there became a point where the parties we were doing – so many people were coming and getting behind this thing in The North - that we gave it a leg up from our end to do it properly as a festival. We’ve just taken it from the grass roots to now having a sell-out every year with thousands of people coming from the local area, which is great because that’s something we wanted to give, but also nationally and people from Spain, France, Sweden, etc coming over. It’s really big for us, big for Lancashire. It’s a great thing to have here.

FFA - top marks for proving once again that Lancashire is much more than the Dark Satanic Mills clichés

Come on site and look around you – you just can’t fault it!  We’re at the top of the Ribble Valley – from the camp site you can look right across the valley to the Three Peaks. It’s beautiful.

FFA - You grew from the Underground Music scene and perhaps some purists would argue that the festival has grown so big that it risks losing its ‘underground’ roots …. How would you respond to that?

Some festivals have different stages of course, but I think what we’ve done differently is taken around us people who are still part of that underground scene (we’ve got Stumblefunk, we’ve got Trailer Trash for instance, and party sound system people who run different stages but not under their own name)….the people who come and help with the festival, join it, help with programming – Beat-Herder is purely in their court still, as well as our own hand in it.

We’re not commercial people by any means; the way that Beat-Herder has grown is mainly by word of mouth. Around 600 people came the first year – everyone told a friend basically so it doubled and that’s how it’s grown. The quality of not advertising – which we are keen on NOT doing - keeps everyone together. With all these ‘friends of friends’ - before you know it everyone become friends with everyone else… so the festival goers, ‘the Beat-Herders’, remain from the same background as where it all started.

FFA – Within this collective concept - How much autonomy is there? Do you control programming or do you basically allocate someone a tent and just say ‘entertain everyone for the weekend’

There is a bit of both – we will effectively say here’s a tent or bring your own structure – it’s purely for them to put the entrainment on over the weekend and build what they feel – we are fully trusting in them to do that. For us The Beat-Herder festival is a festival with loads of other festivals within it. The only help we give within those tents is when they say – we want this DJ to headline, if it’s a major artist then we’ll step in to deal with the agents etc – but we never push anyone on the tents.

All we’ve ever really wanted to do is to put on a weekend of pure fun where people can escape the likes of advertising and branding and really let their hair down and have a good time for the weekend. We started off with the slogan of “Three Days of Beats & Barminess in Lovely Lancashire” – I don’t think we’ve strayed too far from that to be fair.

For us we feel like the festival atmosphere we get is a reward for the lack of advertising, our alcohol policy, no nanny culture, decent ticket pricing… all the time we are just trying to be as fair as we can to everybody – to the despair of our wives (laughs). People I think are appreciative of not being fleeced, of being heard and being respected. When you give that love and get it back then that’s what it’s all about for us.

FFA were really impressed last year by the sheer creativity and ‘artiness’ of the festival – but you guys don’t really make a big thing of it?

The majority of the creations and the things we put in become unique to Beat-Herder… for instance – we don’t hire flags in – we make them – we don’t brings tents in to a venue – we’ll build one – its putting that handmade touch into everything – it may come from scratch on drawings or ideas within the group - We feel that we know what people want. It’s quite empowering in a way to be putting that into reality. It’s those little micro-venues and tiny bits where you think no one is going to notice them but when you put them all together it becomes the nut & bolts of the festival. In terms of being recognised we don’t shout it from the rooftops. We are not aiming for recognition - we aim to make it great for the people who want to come.

Yep - they really have build a church on site for general hands in the air malarkey!

FFA – So what about 2013?

We are really proud to be presenting Jimmy Cliff. He’s a legend. The woods are rammed again with great DJ names. Mr Scruff – when he played first time in the woods he did stuff that we’d been trying 4 years to achieve in there. We are delighted to have these kinds of acts back. There are some amazing upcoming acts too like TOY and Roosevelt.

Beat-Herder is not purely electronic. Over the years the headliners may have been ‘electronic’ and people focus on the highlights. The fact is that there are over a dozen venues within Beat-Herder; each one having its own style – there are reggae tents, new music tents, roots, blues, jazz, & folk spots. Great acts around the stages like Beans on Toast illustrate that diversity.

From the outset what we’ve tried to do at Beat-Herder is become a platform for people with skills to step up and display those skills, to display what they do. I know sometimes festivals can seem like big machines that just run professionally – but we’ve always been on the lookout for bedroom musicians, magicians, entertainers, sculptors, - people who make things and who are creative – it’s a place where they can all come. It’s exactly what Beat-Herder is about. The roots of Beat-Herder are people coming forward & saying can I join in, can I bring this & that – there is still no closed door. This is still the place to show it!

Splendid stuff. Our reviewer labelled Beat-Herder ‘Simply Marvellous’ last year – now we know why. If you want to discover if Nick and his muckers can better that in 2013 then be quick – the festival usually sells out.

The Beat Herder Festival 2013 at Dockber Farm , Sawley , Lancashire , BB7 4LH

Fri 5th to Sun 7th July 2013 - Adult camping tickets from £105

Full Details HERE.

Article by Barrie Dimond