Green Man Festival

Green Man Festival
Genre	Folk music / Psychedelia / Indie / Dance / World Music / Americana / Electronica
Location(s)	Brecon Beacons, Wales
Years active	2003-present
Website
www.greenman.net

Green Man is an independent music and arts festival held annually in mid-August in the Brecon Beacons, Wales since 2003. It has evolved into a 20,000 capacity 4-day event, showcasing predominantly live music (in particular alternative, indie, rock, folk, dance and americana), with additional events showcasing literature, film, comedy, theatre and poetry. 2015 saw 1,500 multi-arts acts perform across 17 stages. The festival site is divided into 10 areas, each offering a unique festival experience. Ceilidhs, all-night bonfires and secret gigs all add to the festival's unique identity.

Renowned for its non-corporate, ethical approach, it has won several awards including "Best Medium Sized Festival 2010"^[1] and "Grass Roots Festival 2012".^[2] In 2015, Green Man won "Best Festival" at the Live Music Business Awards.^[3] As Managing Director, Fiona Stewart received the Outstanding Achievement Award at the UK Festival Awards and Green Man was named as one of top 50 coolest British brands 2013/14 by CoolBrands.^[4] It is the largest contemporary music and arts festival in Wales and has been given major event status by Welsh Government due to the festivals positive impact, and wealth creation.

Green Man will return for its 15th year anniversary celebration - 17–20 August 2017.

Areas

Main stage at Green Man Festival 2008

The Mountain Stage is located in a natural amphitheatre surrounded by the Black Mountains. Headline acts in the past have included Van Morrison, The National, Fleet Foxes, Hot Chip, Super Furry Animals, St Vincent, Robert Plant and Bon Iver.

Far Out is made up of three individual tents covering late-night DJs, film screenings in Cinedrome and Chai Wallahs, the best in live rap, hip hop, dub, reggae, blues and world music.

Einstein’s Garden offers a unique fusion of science, art and nature featuring more than 100 performances ranging from live comedy, music and theatre to walks, talks and interactive installations. It is supported by institutions such as the Wellcome Trust, The Institute of Physics, Research Council UK, Cardiff University and UCL.

Babbling Tongues celebrates the wonders of the spoken word with a line-up of both comedy and literature. Caitlin Moran, Rhod Gilbert, Adam Buxton, John Cooper Clarke, John Cale, Julian Cope, Simon Armitage, Howard Marks, Josie Long, Robin Ince, and Tim Minchin have all either performed or given talks in this area in the past.

The Walled Garden lies at the heart of the Green Man. A small stage showcases some of Green Man's favourite music. The Green Man Pub in the Courtyard stays open until the early hours.

The Little Folk area is set aside for younger festival-goers, with activities, entertainment and workshops aimed specifically at families with younger children.

Somewhere is an area aimed specifically at teenagers and features a variety of activities ranging from film-making and circus-skills workshops

Nature Nurture is an area to unwind in; located at the centre of the festival site, Nature Nurture offers Hot Tubs, Yoga and Mindfulness workshops.

Fortune Falls is a secluded area of the festival site located on a grassy hillside with trees, fresh running stream, pond and miniature waterfall. The area features a range of interactive art installations. The Rising Stage, located here, showcases new and upcoming artists.

The Courtyard, in the middle of a gothic stable block at the heart of the site, offers a relatively calm environment. Many festivalgoers meet up here and drink ales and ciders from the bar. There are also coffee stalls and a record shop tent.

The Settlement is a camp-site reserved exclusively for festival-goers with Settlers Pass tickets. In 2009 the Green Man introduced a holiday ticket offer that gave festival-goers the option to start their festival experience early and camp in the week leading up to Green Man. This allows people attending Green Man to explore the surrounding areas of the Black Mountains and the Brecon Beacons and was designed to have a positive impact of local tourism. The campsite itself has a wide range of family-friendly activities, workshops and entertainment on offer as well as nightly performances by local artists. Each year the musical programme is curated by a different Welsh artist or act. For 2016, Toby Hay will curate the musical offering.

Line-ups

Highlights from previous line-ups include:

2017 Will be announced in early 2017.

2016 Belle and Sebastian, James Blake, Laura Marling, Wild Beasts, Warpaint, Grandaddy, Tindersticks, Julia Holter, White Denim, Battles, BC Camplight, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Floating Points, Ezra Furman, Michael Rother, Songhoy Blues, Jagwar Ma, Cate Le Bon, Fat White Family

2015 St Vincent, Super Furry Animals, Hot Chip, Leftfield, Slowdive, Goat, Father John Misty, Calexico, Television, Mew, Courtney Barnett, The Fall, Public Service Broadcasting, Temples, The Staves, Charles Bradley, Sun Ra Arkestra, Matthew E. White, Hunck, Beyond The Wizards Sleeve, The 2 Bears, Viet Cong, Dan Deacon, Waxahatchee, Hookworms, Marika Hackman, Emmy the Great

2014 Neutral Milk Hotel, Mercury Rev, Beirut, The Waterboys, Bill Callahan, Caribou, First Aid Kit, Slint, Nick Mulvey, The War on Drugs, Kurt Vile, Sharon Van Etten, Daughter, Poliça, Real Estate, Mac DeMarco, Panda Bear, Anna Calvi, Georgia Ruth, H. Hawkline, Sen Segur, Memory Clinic

2013 Kings of Convenience, Band of Horses, Ben Howard, Patti Smith, Fuck Buttons, Villagers, Swans, John Cale, Edwyn Collins, Stornoway, Local Natives, The Horrors, Midlake, Beak, Moon Duo, Parquet Courts, Phosphorescent, Jacco Gardner, Jon Hopkins, Sweet Baboo, Grass House, Roy Harper, Erol Alkan, Veronica Falls, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Local Natives, Low, Darkstar, British Sea Power

2012 Mogwai, Feist, Van Morrison, The Tallest Man On Earth, The Walkmen, Yann Tiersen, The Felice Brothers, Tune-Yards, Jonathan Richman, Dexys, Michael Kiwanuka, Cate Le Bon

2011 Fleet Foxes, Explosions In The Sky, Iron and Wine, The Low Anthem, Noah & The Whale, James Blake, Bellowhead, Villagers, Laura Marling, Robin Hitchcock, The 2 Bears, Andrew Weatherall

2010 Doves, The Flaming Lips, Joanna Newsom, Mumford & Sons, Beirut, Billy Bragg, The Unthanks, Tindersticks, Laura Marling, Darwin Deez, John Grant, Fionn Regan, Fuck Buttons, Wild Beasts, Girls, Johnny Flynn, These New Puritans, The Tallest Man on Earth, Summer Camp, Steve Mason, "Metronomy Presents"

2009 Animal Collective, Jarvis Cocker, Wilco, Bon Iver, Wooden Shjips, British Sea Power, Errors, Grizzly Bear, Peggy Sue, Erland & The Carnival, Andrew Bird, Trembling Bells, Dirty Three

2008 Spiritualized, Super Furry Animals, Pentangle, Richard Thompson, Iron & Wine, The National, Laura Marling, Radio Luxembourg

2007 Joanna Newsom, Robert Plant, Stephen Malkmus, Devendra Banhart, Bill Callahan, Vashti Bunyan, Stephen Duffy & The Lilac Time, Battles, Seasick Steve, Gruff Rhys, Vetiver, Tunng, Steve Adey, John Renbourn

2006 Donovan, Jose Gonzalez, Calexico, Bat for Lashes, Micah P. Hinson, Jack Rose, Adem, Marissa Nadler

2005 Incredible String Band, Bonnie Prince Billy, Joanna Newsom, Adem, Wizz Jones, Tunng

Charities, community work and regional partnerships

The festival is a charitable partner of The Bevan Foundation and Oxfam Cymru, Cymdeithas yr laith Gymraeg, RSPB Cymru and Brecon Beacons National Park Authority all host stalls at the festival. Each year 40 stalls (worth over £17,000) are allocated to Welsh Charities and Not-for-Profit Organisations. £20,000 is raised annually for local arts and sports projects through a stall run by the Cwmdu Friends. In 2013 more than £16,000 was raised for a charitable trip to Uganda for students at the local Crickhowell High School. Since 2010, Green Man has raised £250,000 of donations for charities. Green Man also runs training programs with Merthyr Tydfil College and the Salvation Army in Cardiff to give training and mentoring to vulnerable young adults. Additionally, the festival also offers training for over 100 local volunteers providing them with work experience, workshops and life skills.

A 2015 UK Music report, compiled based on research from Oxford Economics, identified Green Man, alongside the Wales Millennium Centre, as a major driver of Music Tourism. Music Tourism in Wales is worth an estimated £95 million annually.^[5]

Other ventures

Green Man Rising

Launched in 2008, Green Man Rising is Green Man's annual contest which seeks the festival headliners of the future, providing a platform for the best emerging artists to shout loudly about their music. Rising gives one winner a chance to open Green Man's Mountain Stage on the first day of the festival.^[6] To enter, applicants must upload a SoundCloud link and short biography. A panel of prestigious tastemakers, blogs and influencers all listen through the long-list before narrowing down a short list of finalist who play the Rising Final in London. Rising is completely FREE to enter. Since its inception, it has become widely respected in the music industry.

Past Green Man Rising winners include Tony Njoku, Hunck, Haiku Salut, Will and the People and Huw M.

Green Man Ahoy!

In 2006, Green Man hosted its first annual Boat Party on the River Thames. The event usually featured a line-up of both live music and DJ sets and a bar. The last boat party in 2012 featured performances by Field Music, Three Trapped Tigers and Tom Williams & The Boat.

In 2016, Green Man renamed the boat party Green Man Ahoy!. The event took place May 7, 2016 and featured Slow Club, Gengahr and Palace Winter.^[7]

Courtyard

In September 2015, Green Man took the Courtyard to King's Cross, London for a four-day celebration of Welsh Beer and Cider. Over 180 beers and ciders were bought from independent Welsh brewers. Live music came from Ibibio Sound Machine, Stealing Sheep, Boxed In, Meilyr Jones, C Duncan, Cairobi and The Wave Pictures. The line-up on the Sunday was co-curated with Moshi Moshi Records.^[8] Over 26,000 people attended Courtyard throughout the four days.

HWYL

Green Man celebrates St David’s Day with a special one-day event in London’s Cecil Sharp House. It was named ‘Hwyl’ (a lyrical Welsh term for ‘fun’) and was a celebration of Welsh culture, crafts and gastronomy with talks, theatre, storytelling and comedy. In 2015 live music came from Teleman, Georgia Ruth, Stanley Brinks, Sweet Baboo and Cowbois Rhos Botwnnog.^[9] HWYL did not take place in 2016.

Busk On the Usk

Busk On The Usk was a free one-day festival held in Newport, South Wales at various locations along the banks of the River Usk. The event was The Welsh Contemporary Music’s contribution to the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad and was co-produced by Fiona Stewart. The event featured a program of live music, discussions and lectures, art installations and local food stalls. The event was organised by Green Man with help from the people of Newport along with contributions from a number of Wales’ most important cultural organisations including Sŵn Festival, the Do Lectures, the Laugharne Weekend, the Bevan Foundation, the Centre for Regeneration Excellence Wales, Riverfront Theatre, University of Wales Newport and Arts Council Wales. The music line-up included Scritti Politti, Anna Calvi, Cate Le Bon and Jon Langford. An estimated 6,000 people attended the event.

Operational History

Green Man was founded in 2003 by Daniel and Josephine Hagan who organised the first three festivals with support from Kenneth Lower. In 2005 Fiona Stewart was brought in to assist with the organisation of infrastructure and a company was formed which saw the Hagan's holding 23.5% each, Fiona Stewart holding 48%, and Kenneth Lower holding 5%. In 2009 Kenneth Lower sold his shares to the other shareholders and left the company. In 2011 the Hagan’s sold their shares to Fiona Stewart and left the company.

See also

• Crickhowell
• List of music festivals in the United Kingdom

References

External links

• Green Man Festival official website
• The Official Green Man Festival forum

Coordinates: 51°52′08″N 3°10′19″W / 51.869°N 3.172°W / 51.869; -3.172