Music Festival B.C.

Celebrating their 10th anniversary this year, Global Gathering has become one of the most anticipated annual events in international electronic dance music around the world. It is held at Long Marston Airfield in Warwickshire, England near Stratford Upon Avon (about 2-2.5 hours away from both Manchester and London, about 1 hour from Birmingham).

Attendance tips 50,000 at this annual collaboration of about 150 DJs and performers throughout the electronic dance music industry with 16 different stages and tents. People travel from around the world to attend the two-day festival with tickets that run at about £132 ($198) for general admission for the weekend up to £192 ($289) for VIP. Included in the price is access to the camping grounds, where most festival goers stay the night in either tents or campers. If you’re like me and can’t get over to the festival, you can get some free music downloads as well as live broadcasts of the event and use your imagination.

This year Global Gathering will be featuring The Do Lab in the VIP area. The Do Lab creates an artistic environment for festivals and has been seen at such events as Coachella in California.

Past artists and artists that will be returning again include Carl Cox, Armin van Buuren, Paul Oakenfold, John Digweed, Markus Schulz, Sander Kleinenberg, Above & Beyond, Steve Angello, and so many more superstars it’s almost insane. If only I lived in England… I would be of the first people to buy the tickets to Global Gathering once they were released. (sigh).

The infamous Creamfields Festival began in 1998 in Winchester, England but was moved the following year to Liverpool where it stayed until 2006 when it moved to Daresbury. Creamfields has become an iconic music event over the last decade that drives people to travel from all over the world to attend.

The biggest names in electronic music around the world, especially from the UK fill up the stages over the weekend-long festival. Names like Deadmau5, David Guetta, Armin van Buuren, Ferry Corsten, Tiesto, Paul van Dyk, Sasha, Judge Jules, and a plethora of the biggest names in the industry are commonplace at this weekend of amazing electronic musical ingenuity. Some of my all time favorite free music downloads came from live sets broadcasted on British radio during past festivals.

Ticket prices do tend to be pretty high for Creamfields, with a weekend camper ticket for both days reaching around 100 British pounds, or 185 pounds for access to more areas throughout the campgrounds. Of course, if you cannot attend the festival, you can listen to the events live streaming from different online sites or live radio broadcasts on BBC. You can look at all the event info including dates, lineup, prices, etc. on their cool website here: Creamfields. I found a cool promo video from their 10th anniversary in 2008:

Creamfields has spread into other countries now as well, giving the festival lover a better chance at attending the mayhem. Recently it has debuted in Australia for the first time with shows in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Perth. Although smaller than the UK version, it was considered a success and one that will be repeated.

The other international locations that Creamfields ventures to? Check out this list! Currently there are Creamfields festivals in Andalucia, Abu Dhabi, Australia, Chile, Brazil, Ukraine, Buenos Aires, Central Europe, Loule, and Malta! That’s massive! I would love to hear about these first hand from someone who’s been to one of these destination festivals. If you or anyone you know has been, please post comments and inform me! Meanwhile I’ll be sulking in envy.