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Published: 14 June, 2012
by DAN CARRIER

FROM dub-funksters Fat Freddy’s Drop, to the beat-boxing Beardy Man, followed by Death in Vegas, the recently announced line-up for this year’s Standon Calling has found acts that you won’t see elsewhere on the summer festival circuit.

Curated by founder Alex Trenchard, who lives in Holloway, the event at the beginning of August has stamped its mark on the calendar. 

The festival takes place just north of London in the rolling hills of Hertfordshire. Tucked into a small valley, while other festivals call themselves “boutique” to get all trendy, this is simply a nice sized occasion that every year punches well above its weight in terms of the line-up. 

It’s as if the bands, DJs, sound systems and other performers who make their way to Standon do so because they know they’ll get a great crowd to play to with absolutely none of the hassle you get with larger festivals.

As well as a nightclub in a cow shed and smaller hidden stages across the site, Standon has a reputation for breaking new acts. 

“I love putting together the programme for the music,” said Alex.

“This year we’ve got Chk Chk Chk, who are doing their only UK performance.

“Booking the line-up is about booking the people that we think have something extra, something incredible to offer, live. 

“It is also about doing things a bit differently. On Friday night, Beardy Man is doing his first ever festival performance. It is not something he has done before. He is an incredible artist and will be creating a headline set for our festival. We like to do things differently and not be bound by conventions.”

Each year the festival takes on a theme and 2012 sees the site transformed into an explorers’ wonderland dubbed “The Journey To The Ends Of The Earth”.

Alex said revellers should expect hidden surprises across the site, with the much-loved tree bar being turned into a multi-platform tree house, and a hidden dance stage tucked away.

There is also the roving Dig It Sound System from Kentish Town making their annual appearance.

“There are plenty of surprises in store this year,” said Alex. 

“My most memorable festival experiences are not just amazing shows from big performers, but what I always really remember is moving around from A to B in the early hours – that is when the magic happens. 

“This year we are all about smaller venues across the site to encourage people to explore the whole festival site and it not to solely be about the main stage or our all-night club area. 

“We have a new Groove Garden stage hidden away and the fabulous Dig It Sound System popping up, which always causes a massive stir.

“This year, we’re putting on a special secret stage: the idea is once the main stage finishes, you’ll have to explore the site to find where the next act is on. 

“On the Friday, after Beardy Man closes the main stage, somewhere a new stage will kick off. 

“We want to encourage the audience to move together and work together to find it. It really creates a sense of excitement.”

Art has always played a big part in Standon Calling, and curator Amy Lord, who has worked with the renowned theatre company Punchdrunk, is the designer on a mission to make the land into a playground for all.

She said she is creating the “weirdest adventure game the festival world has ever seen”.

Amy added: “I don’t want to give too much away, but this year will be about choice and chance, private encounters and public gatherings.

“There will be an element of hunting.” 

Amy is collaborating with Standon Calling stalwarts The Heritage Arts Company. 

“I think the festival and attendees are bang on my wavelength and the adventure in my head has been conceived completely with them in mind,” she said. 

“The setting itself is just made to be explored and I’d love to encourage people to look at it, and interact with it, in a new way.”

This includes hot-air balloon rides so you can see the action from above, a Literary Lounge tent with leading writers discussing their work and poets performing, and a stage put on by the famous Meantime Brewery Company. 

Alex first laid on Standon Calling a decade ago, and it has a reputation for being one of the most fun and unpretentious small festivals each summer.

“It is basically a house party that has morphed  into a festival over the years,” he said. 

“We aim to retain that intimate feel of a house party, but book a line-up that you’d get if to you went to a medium-sized music festival. 

“It is an overgrown house party, really – it burst its banks and spread out into the fields. 

“The idea is in its DNA – you don’t really see that at festivals of this size. 

“We have put together a line-up with a real punch, but at the same time we have managed to keep the intimacy. We still have a party on our lawn and we’re the only festival in the country that has a swimming pool for you to help ease any potential morning hangovers.”

Its size means there is a friendly vibe throughout. 

“People meet here on the Friday and by Sunday they have made friends, lovers and even ex-lovers,” joked Alex. 

“We also have found that people come back each year and meet the same groups of people and have a good catch-up as to what they’ve been up to over the last 12 months.”

And while the secret sound systems and headliners are a reason enough to get your tickets, the festival has plenty of sidelines on offer. 

Alex puts on a hotly contested dog show each year, which regulars have been arguing about online ever since last year’s controversial decision. Alex said it is partly something he does for his parents, who attend, as they are dog lovers and enjoy judging the mutts that show up. 

As well as offering late-night entertainment – it is one of just a handful of festivals that boast an all night licence – Standon Calling is also known for being family friendly, so much so that the leading parents website mums.net has given it five stars and says it is easy for parents with children to come and enjoy.

• Visit www.standon-calling.com for more information.

• To win two pairs of tickets to Standon Calling, just answer the following question: The Standon Calling has an all-night rave in A) cow shed, B) a pig sty, or C) a sheep pen. Please email your answers to dcarrier@camdennewjournal.co.uk or write to Dan Carrier, Camden New Journal, 40 Camden Road, London, NW1 9DR.