Houghton was certainly on!

Words: Harrycharles

August 20, 2022

Flashback & Review Of Houghton Festival 2022 : A personal account of the festival in the words of Harry Charles… “Expressionism, togetherness, warm embrace and enlightenment to a higher consciousness and awakening of the third eye, the fourth eye, the fifth eye, oh god all the eyes are open. Along with those other chakras and the channelling of the superlative frequency of life. Yes, festivals in general are rather fucking great. So, what sets them apart? In short, Experience.” Houghton being in its 6^th year of life however and having suffered an enduring painful 3 year hiatus for the lights to officially turn back on, this was a long time coming. Patience be a virtue if so, it may be our greatest sacrifice and in fact our greatest becoming. “This extraordinary journey has only made us more passionate and determined,” the festival said in a promo text.” Absence makes the heart grow fonder. The origin of the word ‘festival’ can be traced to the Latin ‘festa’ meaning ‘a religious holiday’ a day or period set aside for celebration or feasting, especially one of religious significance. Baptised Christian I became a nonbeliever of religion as such. Instead, I like many others on this planet that we call Earth chose to follow the gods of dance; Terpsichore, Ame-No-Uzume-No-Mikoto, Baal Marqod, Apsaras, Shiva Nataraja and of course the Ibiza legend that is Bes into the Balearic abyss of the biggest religion life has to offer… Music. Music is so powerful; it is multilingual, has no gender and its intensions are pure. This inherent structure and emotional pull can lend itself toward teaching vast and expansive concepts, the share of information and

operational frequency. Knowing this and being “aware” is where it all begins. Craig Richards needs no introduction to the scene, especially not in the UK. Intoxicated by the culture of night life, an art student with a deep and broad passion for what Art truly means. Craig moved to London in 1987 and has held down the lead role as resident of arguably London’s most iconic night club, Fabric. For over 3 decades his musical knowledge, depth, care, precision and understanding has been on display every week. This evidence is now on display for all to witness in the form of a festival that is certainly back with abundance. I caught up with Craig on my first day at Houghton being the Saturday early afternoon. This by now must’ve been day 20 or so for him but if you count the 3 other years of planning and thinking about the next Houghton that comes to precisely 1,115 days. In conversation with Craig and my very good friend Matt Mckillop aka 1 half of Soul Central. We asked how he was feeling towards the festival after having waited so long to return to the sunny gardens of Norfolk and Kings Lynn? His demeanour was calm and assured. There’s a confidence in his presence that I now fully acknowledge as Craig’s professionalism and experience which circulates around every decision made at the festival and with his vision and this shared ethos in mind you can’t go wrong. Like minded individuals that together make this festival a well-oiled production. Many involved in the precision and the processing of the event. With an outstanding festival team on production duties and serious heads of the industry collaboratively working toward a coherent message of the highest quality.

Our conversation was brief, Craig was a wanted man and played throughout the festival on various stages including closing the Pavilion stage in fine fashion in the early hours of Saturday morning. Prior was his Reggae set at the Pinters stage. As well as clearly masterminding the curation of music that submerges the Houghton festival goers in a drowning of talent Craig has always been at the forefront of earmarking the rising stars of today. Who did Craig lean upon for the task of co-curating the stages none other than the rising son of Fabric nightlife Bobby. Last time I saw Bobby play was in the woods somewhere outside of London for one of the most epic secret Halloween parties so it was fitting that 12 or so years later I should see him beneath the trees and amongst the fauna celebrating life and music. Bobby’s rise to glory and accreditation is duly noted and although perhaps my friendship lays some biases, I like many others consider him to be one of the hottest DJ properties flourishing at every display. His set at Terminus, the not-so-secret stage now was one of my absolute highlights. If you don’t believe me there’s a video circulating around from the festival with myself, and many others fist pumping away to his fine display of music. What stood out from this festival was the generational dominance of talent throughout from front to back. Craig and Bobby have delivered something authentic. Looking at the schedule it was clear I couldn’t be in two places at once. Have no fear, my advice after having now popped my Houghton cherry is to just flow through the carefully mapped out site and wonder from one high end production to another. Zero disappointment or jealousy towards missing out on artists I thought I had to see was met by the surprise of every artist I found myself watching and enjoying. Acknowledgement from the crowd lies with the fact if you’ve been booked to play at Houghton then you’re clearly there on merit. Something that should always stand at the top of an industry that has varying displays of professionalism and curation. Here at Houghton, it feels like a premier league of talent that wholeheartedly support one another’s contribution to the common goal of a musical religion that has no boundaries. This overriding feeling of community within music is special and I would say a Fabric of life.

Pardon the pun but this fabrication of fabric, fabricated by the life of Fabric is for the bricks and mortars of our foundational greater musical community and boy oh boy did we need this after a long wait and those two shitty years cursed by Covid. Houghton we salute you, we thank you and we are glad you’re back to full force. We’ve fasted so now let us feast on the festivities of music that you are festooning into the air. I love a good festival but now I know that this festival truly exists again I won’t worry about getting my music fix. This one is guaranteed. Giant Steps was a special place to visit, watching DJ’s and Selectors dominate one piece of wax at a time with applause at the end of every record flipped soothingly gracing your ears in perfectly rounded sound provided by the stunning analog sound system. I went there on my own once or twice to have some sort of musical therapy and respite from the sun. Another great place for that was the old gramophone stage which lay home to diggers and true masters of the eclectic wobble of world music. At night this place changed into the perfectly intimate party which was given extra spice by the likes of Prosumer, Ruf Dug & Colleen Cosmo Murphy. There was not one bad performance all festival. Pure magic and revelation from the needle to the string from the Napkin to the Turntable (which by the way was the awesome restaurant that we ended up at on our final day in Houghton) brought to you by Oscar Toma, Andrea Marini with Chef Hakan Ceren.

The food was tip top, and the service was extremely hospitable. At this point I wasn’t surprised by the addition of a floating lakeside restaurant with more quality on display. Food vendors were lovely, plenty of drinking holes and subtle touches like the cold flannel buckets provided by the guardians of the festival truly doing their best job to provide safe spaces and care to those in need. When divulging further into the “why” the experience of Houghton is well conveyed across the board. Atmosphere is here and position of placement couldn’t be more beautiful. The architectural layout of the festival and positioning of the stages brings to light much of the raw timeless beauty nature has to offer in these circumstances. Bringing music of this elk into a space so steeped in such elegance performed a breath-taking combination and at times there was a majestic revelry unparalleled with anywhere else I had ever had the joy of partying. Somewhat a timeless feel like listening to one of Andrew Weatherall or Arthur Russel’s productions, it felt good at every moment & around every corner. Not to mention witnessing a performance that was so poignantly placed in the curation and timing of the whole programming from Matthew Halsall that really felt like a blessing and tribute toward the land so graciously holding the space for Houghton to thrive before the big Saturday night knees up.

Matter Out of Place or MOOP as it’s more commonly known is something I’m aware of from running a stage at the Australian Burn for 4 years. There was a strong presence of a clear up team who at times rampaged stages almost like a police raid coming in guns blazing but within 5 or so minutes floors were spotless and normal service of dancing resumed. I guess we can all acknowledge that being more responsible is a collective idea that needs to be shared and owned. Civic responsibility and general courtesy at these gatherings are important. There was no mardy or eggy crowd vibes and people were warm and inviting. There was an awakening of a spirit held 3 years a prisoner and she/he/they was present throughout every set. At times more than others. Voigtmann, Move D and Shanti Celeste erupted the audiences with vinyl masterclasses. One of my favourites all times 90’s bangers Anytime by Nu-birth gave the main stage a buzz like no other when Shanti did what she does best. Willow took the Earthlings stage back to the early 2000’s with dusty moments of the past and encountered new moments of dusty ravers’ feet creating a misty layer for every record spun. Honestly this festival had it all.

One of the most blissful moments was the press train to the renowned sculpture gardens. Which we were fortunate to be taken on a tour of and when sat within the building that James Turrell created called the Skyspace Seldom Seen we shared a few minutes silence which offered a powerful breathing space between the music being pioneered back at the festival grounds. The people maketh the party and the scene wouldn’t be a scene without scenes to contribute toward the ever-growing reel of music history that is constantly evolving. A lot has changed over the last 3 decades, not just within the music industry but life itself. We are a society that revels in instant gratification. Our food is fast, our Internet is high speed, and our shipping is next day. Vinyl is back in fashion, there’s more and more independent music venues and festivals popping up around every corner. Artists are taking back their independence and support for new music is growing at a progressive rate driven harder by humanity’s rapacious need for instant pleasure.

Electronic music is addictive because it triggers dopamine production, which produces euphoria. That in a nutshell means this love and affinity for the culture of rave and the power it possesses in its unity will define further advancements in how we celebrate music as a religion. Houghton will continue to be that Church for many now and the disciples and worshipers will collectively contribute towards this just getting better and better. Overall, a residing feeling of inspiration will reverberate around the masses as Houghton has left a lasting impression for one and all.

Special thank you to Matt Mckillop for the opportunity to press further into the industry and massive feelings of gratitude towards all the friends I was able to catch up with after so long. Shouts to Will Troup (Ransom Note) and Katie from The Rest Is Noise for the hospitality during the festival. Congratulations to Adam Shelton for running the record store with the team there, which supplied me with lots of new heat to return to Ibiza with. Also, appreciation towards Shardai, Rob and my wife Emily for facilitating this trip to happen during the peak season of August in Ibiza. Check Electric Mode stories for a run of reels and photos I managed to collect over an incredible weekend at Houghton.

See you all for Houghton Festival again in 2023. Prepare to reconnect and celebrate as a like minded mass as we roll on from this epic and iconic event into a fertile future indeed. Stay closely tuned to www.houghtonfestival.co.uk for news and updates.