Photo credit: Facebook
Lately I haven’t been able to hide my growing feeling of disappointment towards some aspects of the UK festival scene. Every year, my friends and I ritualise the idea of paying for a two-hundred-and-something pound ticket to sit in a field and watch the same 10-or-so headliners revolve around an increasingly distant main stage. It might sound like I’m being unnecessarily harsh here, believe me, I’m a big fan of festivals at heart. But despite the fact that muddy weekends with friends have provided some of the best memories from my increasingly awkward-seeming adolescence, I’ve been looking in different places in order to get my festival fix.
So it seems like a blessing that so many smaller UK festivals have been entering the forefront of public consciousness. A quick search can yield dozens of under-the-radar events that will blow your mind without breaking your bank account. Here I’m going to be focussing on a hidden gem tucked away in Portmeirion, North Wales: the confusingly named and criminally unknown Festival No 6.
It seems strange that a festival boasting a poster of both established and hailed artists like Grace Jones and James as well as fantastic up-and-comers including Catfish and the Bottlemen, Everything Everything and Young Fathers can slip by unnoticed by most people. Especially when tickets clock in at under £200. In fact, with a host of theatre, comedy and discussion, the music available isn’t even the limit of what Festival No 6 offers, describing itself as less of a music festival and more of (and I quote) ‘a bespoke banquet of music, arts and culture’.
The location, hidden away on the far side of Snowdonia in north-west Wales, might seem a little intimidating to get to. But with companies like Big Green Coach offering easy transport to any festival around the UK (and some of Europe as well), it’s never been easier to see any act you want tearing up stages across the country. If you’re still not convinced, look Festival No 6 up and just look at where it’s all happening. It’s not every day where you find a festival with its own vista away from the world, with the coast on one side and the Snowdonia parks and mountains on the other. This provides some interesting opportunities for activities around the event as well. Not many festivals offer paddle boarding, carnivals or processions at night adorned with torches and lanterns.
I’ve got to say, if you’re just looking for a drunken weekend trying to pry the last contents out of bottles and baggies, you might be looking in the wrong direction. Festival No 6 is not only aimed teenagers in tents but also has a large family demographic. They cater to all ages including the little ones, so if your prerogative is to get muddy and messy with a bunch of like-minded students it might be better to take a glance elsewhere. If, however, you’re searching for an alternative, varied, and breathtakingly beautiful festival for your summer, you can’t find much better than the Welsh wonder of Festival No 6.
Festival Preview: Festival Number 6
Matt McCrory | 11th July 2015
