Galtres Parklands Festival

Galtres Parklands Festival was an English live music, arts, beer and family festival that took place annually at Duncombe Park, Helmsley over the August bank holiday weekend until 2014.[1] Headliners in 2014 include Tricky, Morcheeba, Bellowhead, Levellers, and The Human League.[2]

Founded in 2005 originally as a real ale and music festival in Crayke, North Yorkshire, Galtres Parklands Festival increased in attendance capacity to 10,000 and grew to incorporate an entertainment programme on eight stages featuring dance, theatre, family entertainment, spoken word and music, with the music programme combining local and regional talent with international artists.[3] Galtres Parklands Festival has featured headline performances from acts including The Stranglers,[4] Maxïmo Park,[5] Adam Ant,[6] The Charlatans,[7] Buzzcocks, Ash, Billy Bragg,[8] Lloyd Cole,[9] British Sea Power[10] and The Undertones.[11]

Galtres Parklands Festival was owned by The Galtres Festival Charitable Foundation, registered by the Charity Commission for England and Wales[12] and was run under licence by Crucial Events Promotion.[13]

History

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2005-2009: Founding and expansion of programming

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The event now known as Galtres Parklands Festival originated in 2005 as 'The Crayke Village Real Ale Festival'.[14] Re-branded in 2006 as 'The Galtres Festival' - a reference to the festival site's location within the boundaries of the historical Forest of Galtres - the event grew in scale steadily from 2006 to 2009, building the music, food, dance and family entertainment programmes. Throughout this period the annual festival took place at progressively larger sites in Huby, Sutton-on-the-Forest and Crayke.[15][16]

2010-2012: Increase in attendance and higher profile performers

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Galtres Festival moved to a 5,000-person capacity site in Crayke in 2010.[17][18] This period in the festival's history saw the booking of higher profile performers including The Lightning Seeds,[19] Dodgy[20] and The Beat;[21] and a rebrand of marketing materials by design agency Lazenby Brown.[22] This stage of growth saw the event progress from being a regional event to one with national profile. The York ArtsBarge Project teamed up with Galtres in 2010, adding a new vein of underground music and cabaret to the programme which to many became central to the whole event.[23]

2013-2015: 'Galtres Parklands Festival' rebrand and bankruptcy

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In 2013, the festival moved to a new 10,000-person capacity site in the grounds of Duncombe Park,[24][25] an historic country estate near Helmsley, North Yorkshire, overlooking the North York Moors National Park. The move was accompanied with a re-brand from 'Galtres Festival' to 'Galtres Parklands Festival'. Performers booked to perform at Galtres Parklands Festival 2014 included Tricky, Morcheeba, Bellowhead, Levellers and The Human League.[26] The 2014 festival lost money and a new cashless payment system left traders owed up to £120,000 by festival organisers. The festival company went into administration in September 2014 and a 2015 relaunch was also cancelled.[27]

Ethos

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Galtres Parklands Festival is widely regarded as a genuinely family-friendly event, and features an extensive programme of interactive 'family' activities.[3] In both the procurement of food and drink, and the booking of non-profile performers for the event, the organisers positively discriminate in favour of local suppliers and performers.[28] and the event's environmental concerns include an urban tree planting programme funded by ticket purchasers in partnership with Treemendous York.[29]

Reviews

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The Festival has been nominated for several UK Festival Awards.[30]

The Guardian writer Simon Godley wrote of the 2012 festival: "Despite its emphasis upon being all things local it manages to maintain a wider global perspective without lapsing into parochialism. It is an end result which is achieved by a collective vision, detailed planning and organisation and nigh on perfect execution."[31]

The Festivals for All website described Galtres as "a splendid festival and up there as one of the best events of its size in the UK. ... a true celebration of talent, imagination, creativity and professionalism."[23]

References

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  1. ^ "Galtres Festival 2014". Virtual Festivals. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  2. ^ "Galtres Parklands Festival Headliners Revealed".
  3. ^ a b "My Life: The music festival with local roots". Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  4. ^ Charles Hutchinson. "The Stranglers to headline Galtres Festival". York Press. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  5. ^ "Maximo Park to headline Galtres". efestivals.co.uk. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  6. ^ "GALTRES FESTIVAL: Crayke open a beer". The Mouth Magazine. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  7. ^ "The Charlatans to headline Galtres Festival 2011". Soundsphere magazine. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  8. ^ "Hull bands join Buzzcocks, Bill Bragg and Ash at Galtres Festival in York". Hull Daily Mail. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  9. ^ "Lloyd Cole plays Galtres Parklands Festival, Duncombe Park, Helmsley, August 24". York Press. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  10. ^ "Liverpool nightlife and music - Liverpool Echo". merseyblogs.co.uk. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  11. ^ "The Undertones to play Galtres Festival". York Press. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  12. ^ "PREVIEW: Galtres Parklands Festival, 23rd to 25th August 2013". God Is In The TV. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  13. ^ "Crucial Events"
  14. ^ "Reef, Maximo Park and local bands star in Galtres Festival". YorkMix. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  15. ^ "Festival heads to stately home". maltonmercury.co.uk. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  16. ^ "Wold Top Brewery supports Galtres Festival". Wold Top Brewery. 21 August 2008. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
  17. ^ "The Galtres Festival 2010". efestivals.co.uk. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  18. ^ "The Charlatans to headline Forest Of Galtres Festival". York Press. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  19. ^ Richard Harris. "Lightning Seeds to headline Forest of Galtres Festival". York Press. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  20. ^ "Dodgy's Nigel Clark". openmicuk.co.uk. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  21. ^ Charles Hutchinson. "The Stranglers to headline Galtres Festival". York Press. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  22. ^ "Galtres Festival"
  23. ^ a b "Galtres Festival 2012 Review posted on Wed 29th August 2012". festivalsforall.com. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  24. ^ Mark Stead. "Duncombe Park to be new home of Galtres Festival". York Press. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  25. ^ "Galtres Parklands Festival 2014". efestivals.co.uk. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  26. ^ "Tricky and Morcheeba to Headline Galtres". One&Other. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  27. ^ "Galtres Parklands festival cancelled by organisers". www.bbc.co.uk.
  28. ^ "Food, Farms, Fields and a Free meal!". campaign-archive2.com. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  29. ^ "Festival-goers Fund Project to Plant More Trees in York". One&Other. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  30. ^ "Galtres Festival hopes for national glory". York Press. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  31. ^ "Galtres Festival – 24th to 26th August 2012". God Is In The TV. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
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