Troyfest founder talks to eFestivals

eFestivals spoke to the co-founder of Troyfest, the 'festival of music & cabaret, decadence & delights', which takes place on the May bank holiday weekend in and around Baskerville Hall, near the Welsh/English border and takes place from Friday 1st until Sunday 3rd May 2015.

Who are you are, where are you from and which festival do you work for?
My name is Stu, from Cardiff and I am co-founder of Troyfest Music Festival.

Tell me about your early life and how you got switched on to music?
Probably since my early teens I was throwing parties at any given opportunity, and this quickly evolved in to beach parties & mountain raves, building huge sound systems and accumulating generators, lighting and more sound systems! I've always had a love for creating a party with great music and the satisfaction of seeing so many people having fun!  

What was your first gig or festival?
My first festival was Glasto, probably around 1992, it was a very different festival then!  

What was your first music job and what other jobs have you done within the industry?
I began promoting in Cardiff around 2000 (after putting on a mammoth Millennium Nye party) I was lucky enough to be given the use of an abandoned club in Cardiff, where we put on some fantastic nights, we even allowed the clubbers to paint the walls and ceilings! A little later on I ran big club nights in Cardiff Student Union, but for me my favourite promotion was  'We Love Sundaes' which was held in the back garden of Buffalo bar every single  Sunday  come rain, shine or snow! It was hugely popular and probably the most fun night in Cardiff

Describe your event and tell us what makes it special
What makes Troyfest so special is the people that come to party, we are so lucky that we have one of the friendliest festival crowds you could hope for! It’s basically a massive house party in the grounds of a beautiful mansion and everyone gets heavily involved with our fancy dress theme, which this year is "In the garden". Also our incredible team too, all the volunteers, décor, carpenters, and staff who contribute so much to the fantastic atmosphere!

We get the best line ups we possibly can and focus on getting bands that are known for being brilliant live. In past years, Troyfest has played host to live acts including The Nextmen, Smooth & Turrell, Dub Mafia, and Craig Charles. Were not only music though, we also put on award winning comedy & theatre such as Dirty Protest and the brilliantly funny Abandoman, and 2015 will see an impressive video mapping show projected on to the front of the beautiful Baskerville Hall.

We’re also almost completely weatherproof because, although we have been very lucky with sun every time so far, we are small enough to get everyone under the cover of our stages indoor and out. There are also no long walks between any cars and camping and we never have long queues. There are also flushing toilets and showers for free use inside, plus a pool and sauna!

Troyfest also has some hotel rooms available, as well as camping and glamping, so there’s plenty of choice depending how many creature comforts you’d like. These are just some of the perks of doing Troyfest in and around a mansion. You also get hugged more than any other festival… Fact.

What is your role at the event?
Myself, David, Bailey & Troy (who I run the festival with), all get involved with every aspect of Troyfest from booking the acts to choosing the wristband design! Just before the festival I look after the site build, Health & Safety & lots of paperwork, not that exciting but very necessary! During the festival I'm usually to be found running around the place making sure everything is happening as planned!

What was the best moment for you at your event?
There have been so many amazing moments! perhaps just pausing and looking around at what we have created! but I also loved having the brilliant Craig Charles perform and sending the crowd absolutely wild, it was pretty cool! 

What was the worst moment at your event?
I'm not allowed to talk about it!

Who is on this year's line up?
I'm so pleased with this year's line up, we have managed to get the incredibly talented Gilles Peterson, trip hop legend Mr Scruff, Molotov Jukebox and so many more amazing acts! head over to our website for a full list - http://troyfest.co.uk/line-up/

Who would be on your dream line up for your event?
Its such a hard choice there's so many amazing acts out there, but If I stick to acts that are obviously great then it would have to be Fat Boy Slim, Prince & Stevie Wonder.

Which other festivals do you attend and which ones are your favourites (and why)?
Boomtown is high up on my list, not only is their line up so unique & incredible in comparison to other festivals but the production that goes in to creating their 'Districts' is second to none, I love seeing all the work that goes on behind the scenes and there really is no comparison!

Who do you think we should be looking out for at festivals this year?
Gilles Peterson, Mr Scruff & Molotov Jukebox of course! Subculture Sage and Pink Oculus are also excellent and are finding lots of new fans fast. Another treat that is exclusive to Troyfest is Monty Carlo who has to be seen to be believed.

Thanks Stu.

The line-up at Troyfest includes Mr. Scruff, Molotov Jukebox, Bodhi, Bam (Jungle Brothers), Too Many T's, DJ Moneyshot, By The Rivers, Smerin's Antisocial Club, Pink Oculus, Zen Hussies, Big Swing Soundsystem, Smokey Joe & The Kid, Gilles Peterson, Subculture Sage, Ratcatcher, Kaptin is Dead, Hermigervill, Madame Electrifie, Johnny Cage & The Voodoogroove, Ratcatcher, Cut Capers, The Future Dub Project, Clare James, Afro Cluster, Dave Little, Monty Carlo, Neil Navarra and many more.

Attendees can expect a line-up of over 80 DJs and bands on 5 stages, audio-visual fun, theatre and comedy acts for this small festival that's big on fancy dress. Also confirmed are a special themed AV show with video mapping and fireworks, theatre from Dirty Protest, international films from Lift Off Film Festival, comedy, and burlesque performance. This year's fancy dress theme is 'In the Garden'.

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Tickets are prices at £79.50.

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