the strange death of liberal england

[alfie672]

.........along with the summer sundae.

it was not so long ago that this was possibly the best music festival in britain.

sadly, this is no longer the case. end of the road and haldern for me.

over the last 10 years i have attended the ss with loads of different people, not a single one of these has bought a ticket this year.

[SweepingTheNation]

Can we talk about The Strange Death Of Liberal England instead, then?

[andyblack]

Can we talk about The Strange Death Of Liberal England instead, then?

[Rob ic]

.........along with the summer sundae.

it was not so long ago that this was possibly the best music festival in britain.

[llcoolphil]

Can we talk about The Strange Death Of Liberal England instead, then?

[David Wilson Clarke]

They're playing Firebug,in May.

[alfie672]

Did you not enjoy Summer Sundae 2010 then?

[alfie672]

They're playing Firebug,in May.

[llcoolphil]

i did ejoy it last year because i was with a group of good people, but the spirit of ss was not as strong as in previous years

furthermore not one of that group has felt the urge to purchase an early bird ticket which has always happened previously, instead we have discussed eotr,haldern,the green man, deershed and one or two others. other suggestions welcomed

i was always convinced that ss would not compromise on little details that contributed to making the festival different, for example having that great real ale tent that was staffed by real enthusiasts. people who made a real effort to look after its punters, last years beer provision was a big compromise and all of our group were really disappointed

i suppose we were waiting for something in the line up that may have rekindled some enthusiasm, sadly that has not happened

i am all for an ecletic line up and i dont need great headline bands but there comes a point where the the line up for ss just appears dull (i am going to see i am kloot at the deershed festival)

in essence we have lost two festivals because having attended the previous year we were all keen on the big session which has now also vanished

[andyblack]

just to point out.

mcfly's first chart single was 2004. so someone who was 13 / 14 then is now 20 / 21, and a potential university graduate.

not quite the teen band they once were then.....and more edging into the main ssw age range target then.

(sulks off to watch sonic youth and remark about life should never move on from 1993).

Edited April 2, 2011 by andyblack

[Rob ic]

Needless to say I have been reading the 'boards and considering whether to comment. Over the last 10 years I've generally tried to steer clear of entering any debate regarding the bill, but since a number of you are referring to the overall financial aspect of the festival I thought I'd comment.

This is the first year that Leicester council have shifted financial risk to my company. We are now producing the event with De Montfort Hall the . But that does not mean that the event itself is changing.

We are still a small festival with a limited capacity often punching above it's weight. We not only have 5 stages but we also spend a large proportion of our budget on non-music features. There is the Garden, the Kidzone and a couple of new features to be revealed later this month.

What Summer Sundae will never be a one or two stage only event, programming a limited selection of bands. THAT would not be Summer Sundae, it would be a very "commercial" prospect and not an event I'd be proud to be involved in.

Since 2001 Leicester City Council via De Montfort Hall have financially supported the festival. Some years more than others.

Here is a brief summary of the past few years. This is my contribution to the "what happened to the best festival in Britain?" debate

2006 was a great sell out success and one of our best bills, however the event was far from breaking even.

2007 and 2008 The festival would have been completely unsustainable if we continued having years like this. Figures relating to these years have been reported elsewhere, they don't make great reading.

2009 was better, but it could have so easily been the last and would you believe that one act cancelling actually assisted with the keeping the festival going another year?

We knew in 2010 that we had to deliver a success festival or it would no longer continue. And we achieved that with the most successful year yet. (Remember how many of you thought Mumford and Sons and Tinchy Stryder were not worthy of headline bookings?)

We did not know until after the 2010 festival what cuts were going to be made in local authorities budgets. Double whammy.

Following last years festival there was a lengthy period of discussion with Leicester City Council where I accepted that the only way forward for the festival in 2011 was that I took on the majority of risk. If last years festival had been similar in attendance to 2008 or 2007 then it's possible that there would not have been a festival this year.

Much as I love other festivals like End of The Road, Green Man, Camp Bestival, Glastonbury and others, I know that Summer Sundae can never replicate them, it can only ever be it's unique self. Due to location, it's site and size, it will always be an event that has to appeal to a wide range of people with differing tastes. These factors do go some way to determining our bill; End of the Road for example has some great headliners (Beirut, Mogwai and Joanna Newsom) but I cannot see them necessarily working at Summer Sundae.

Thanks for reading and hope you like the announcements we'll be making on 12th April and end of the month.

Oops, I have mentioned the bill.

[Rob ic]

i was always convinced that ss would not compromise on little details that contributed to making the festival different, for example having that great real ale tent that was staffed by real enthusiasts. people who made a real effort to look after its punters, last years beer provision was a big compromise and all of our group were really disappointed

[seantizz]

Needless to say I have been reading the 'boards and considering whether to comment. Over the last 10 years I've generally tried to steer clear of entering any debate regarding the bill, but since a number of you are referring to the overall financial aspect of the festival I thought I'd comment.

This is the first year that Leicester council have shifted financial risk to my company. We are now producing the event with De Montfort Hall the . But that does not mean that the event itself is changing.

We are still a small festival with a limited capacity often punching above it's weight. We not only have 5 stages but we also spend a large proportion of our budget on non-music features. There is the Garden, the Kidzone and a couple of new features to be revealed later this month.

What Summer Sundae will never be a one or two stage only event, programming a limited selection of bands. THAT would not be Summer Sundae, it would be a very "commercial" prospect and not an event I'd be proud to be involved in.

Since 2001 Leicester City Council via De Montfort Hall have financially supported the festival. Some years more than others.

Here is a brief summary of the past few years. This is my contribution to the "what happened to the best festival in Britain?" debate

2006 was a great sell out success and one of our best bills, however the event was far from breaking even.

2007 and 2008 The festival would have been completely unsustainable if we continued having years like this. Figures relating to these years have been reported elsewhere, they don't make great reading.

2009 was better, but it could have so easily been the last and would you believe that one act cancelling actually assisted with the keeping the festival going another year?

We knew in 2010 that we had to deliver a success festival or it would no longer continue. And we achieved that with the most successful year yet. (Remember how many of you thought Mumford and Sons and Tinchy Stryder were not worthy of headline bookings?)

We did not know until after the 2010 festival what cuts were going to be made in local authorities budgets. Double whammy.

Following last years festival there was a lengthy period of discussion with Leicester City Council where I accepted that the only way forward for the festival in 2011 was that I took on the majority of risk. If last years festival had been similar in attendance to 2008 or 2007 then it's possible that there would not have been a festival this year.

Much as I love other festivals like End of The Road, Green Man, Camp Bestival, Glastonbury and others, I know that Summer Sundae can never replicate them, it can only ever be it's unique self. Due to location, it's site and size, it will always be an event that has to appeal to a wide range of people with differing tastes. These factors do go some way to determining our bill; End of the Road for example has some great headliners (Beirut, Mogwai and Joanna Newsom) but I cannot see them necessarily working at Summer Sundae.

Thanks for reading and hope you like the announcements we'll be making on 12th April and end of the month.

Oops, I have mentioned the bill.

[cavey]

A very impressive post.... This has certainly helped to clarify some of the situation for me...

[zahidf]

A very impressive post.... This has certainly helped to clarify some of the situation for me...

[little car]

(Remember how many of you thought Mumford and Sons and Tinchy Stryder were not worthy of headline bookings?)

[Ed Leaf]

Think it's fairly obvious from Rob's post that you'll lose SSW by not putting commercial acts on the bill.

There's a point where some people decide it's not for them and others think they'll go for the first time because of one big band. I'd like to think there's a weather the storm approach this year and calmer waters will return next....f*ckin' hippie.

If I could afford to go, I'd go this year - it is still a great little festival and I'm local. But the draw of a festival further away more in tune with my tastes and everything a young family throws up (literally at the moment) means I'll miss this year.

[andyblack]

my response is pretty similar to ed's. it's still a fantastic festival, its still much loved, and i'd much rather see showaddywaddy and shonen knife then scouting for girls!!!

i may or may not attend, (not dependent on line up). its a busy weekend that weekend, but if i can, i will. theres an awful lot of fun memories from the last 7 years tied up in ssw one way or another.

Edited April 4, 2011 by andyblack

[alfie672]

We've taken on board the comments re beer tent staffing.

Watch this space...

[alfie672]

my response is pretty similar to ed's. it's still a fantastic festival, its still much loved, and i'd much rather see showaddywaddy and shonen knife then scouting for girls!!!

i may or may not attend, (not dependent on line up). its a busy weekend that weekend, but if i can, i will. theres an awful lot of fun memories from the last 7 years tied up in ssw one way or another.

[llcoolphil]

i once posted that i would buy a 'season ticket' for ss. at that time it seemed that it would be a festival that would always be special.

the financial stuff is not relevant to me, i would prefer the ss to retain its values and be a smaller baby with good but cost neutral headline bands whilst retaining the great stuff that happens in the musician tent and on the rising stage.

i have had a bucketful of fantastic memories but the festival has to remain relevant........i never needed big headline bands although it was nice to be there when lambchop, sfa, the gotan project, patti smith, spiritualized and elbow headlined.

the direction it has taken is really sad and i would rather retain memories of the ss as it was rather than attend a very diluted version of what it once was. mcfly (ffs), example, reef, showaddywaddy, newton faulkner, shonen knife.......why not throw in a couple of tribute acts.

[butchwade]

Well regardless of the lineup, me and 'er indoors will be there.

Hope to you at the Landsdowne on the Thursday night Phil.

[llcoolphil]

Well regardless of the lineup, me and 'er indoors will be there.

Hope to you at the Landsdowne on the Thursday night Phil.

[butchwade]

Friday arrival for me this year - straight on to Beauty Days frrom SSW so dont need an extra night in a tent just for the hell of it!

[alfie672]

What does 'the festival needs to remain relevant' actually mean? And how can the financial stuff not be relevant to you? And whats a financially neutral headliner when its at home? I can see your disappointed etc but all that sounds like muso snob gibberish dressed up in fancy sounding concepts that dont actually mean anything sorry