FESTIVAL PREVIEW: BOOMTOWN 2022
We revisit the ‘suburban’ home Arcade Fire created for us in 2010 and understand the cultural wildfire it created.
Boomtown Fest is back after three years in what can be considered the most redefined experience the festival has had in quite some time.
Boomtown has always been a sight to behold. One of the most unique experiences founded in 2009, its roots stemmed in themes of unity, environmentalism, charity, and self-love, has been providing amazing and diverse musical line-ups, theatrical narratives, and a beautiful city filled with breath-taking landscapes and districts.
Chapter One: The Gathering is a total reboot and reimagination of the festival’s narrative following the difficult gap caused by the pandemic, which led to the cancellation of the previous State of Emergency line-up in 2020. Based on the simple yet complex narrative of human interaction, it aims to fully unite the attendees, making them feel present in an otherwise uncertain post-pandemic world.
The whole layout of Boomtown has been split into three new sections. The main city consists of multiple different districts, each accompanied by its own theme, set of actors, dress codes and music genres. The Forests and woodland areas provide a breath of fresh air and inner peace. Finally, the campsites have their own Campsite Villages, which serve as central hubs promoting shared spaces and a sense of community.
One of the focal points of the festival is making the audience comfortably co-exist within the narrative. This year’s theme is celebration, as the attendees are encouraged to express themselves with colours, representing the new beginnings, celebrations, parades, and all-around party elements, with a dedicated fancy dress day being in the works.
This theme coincides with the general ethos of the festival, which proudly supports and encourages “respect, connection, creativity and celebration”, connecting each ethos into one combined and collective vision. The fresh start allowed for this to work perfectly, keeping in consideration the massive growth in size and scale Boomtown has had the past years.
Within this collective ethos, the festival proudly collaborates with multiple charities, and promotes sustainable lifestyles, whether it be its collaboration with TreeSisters and local partners like Trinity Winchester, planting one tree for every ticket sold, or through providing tips on how to purchase second hand clothes for this year’s theme, Boomtown takes pride in its charity partnerships and importance of raising awareness.
This comes as no surprise considering the festivals green mission, which is to become a fully circular festival by 2025. This means that the city will run completely on renewable energy, minimizing the impact on the environment, and even leading the way for other major festivals to follow suit.
The fascinating accomplishment that comes with Boomtown aiming to become a fully circular festival, is how it has managed to slowly accomplish this while scaling up in size with the ‘Boomtown World’ being the biggest city yet. What used to be Downtown, is now upgraded and re-imagined with revitalized classic and new districts, a changed map, campsites overlooking the landscapes, and brand-new venues, stages, experiences and shows.
The city will consist of eight districts filled with unforgettable experiences and music, and ‘Letsbe Avenue’, which will host the public services. These districts consist of ‘Origin’, ‘Botanica’, ‘Forest Parties’, ‘Copper County’, ‘AREA 404’, ‘Oldtown’, ‘Grand Central’, and ‘Metropolis’. Each district aims to let the audiences mind wander to different places, featuring a massive spectrum of themed venues and stages, as well as LGBTQIA+ safe spaces and areas, fully representing the community with pride, the highlight of this being ‘The Red Rash Inn’, the first ever fully queer space at Boomtown featuring drag shows, cabaret, and disco beats.
The biggest surprise of this year’s Boomtown Fest, however, comes within the musical line-up itself. There isn’t one confirmed. For many years, audiences have basked at the amazingly diverse line-up year after year, which is why due to an array of reasons the festival has decided to keep it a secret until just before it takes place. According to them, it is the best way to ‘create even more phenomenal and diverse’ line-ups, without the worry of the complex lead-up to announcements. It is certainly a bold move on behalf of the independent festival yet coincides with their values of overall experience and will be something that benefits them in the long run.
Boomtown Chapter One: The Gathering will take place from the 10th until the 14th of August and has set its sights on becoming the best festival taking place this year. Its intrigue, secrecy and sense of community and unity are more than enough reasons to participate in this amazing experience, proving that it is the most unique show the UK has to offer.