Photo: Press
Sad news, Secret Garden Party, which is in its fifteenth year, has decided to make 2017s VIP LOL off themed party the last one ever.
The festival, that was inspired by the original ethos of Glastonbury and Burning Man, helped define and redefine so many other events around the country - it truly set the bar in terms of quality of life that could be had at a tented festival. Unfortuantely the amount of imitation that has gone on is what's caused its demise.
In a letter posted on the festival's website, gounder and 'Head Gardener' Freddie Fellowes says:
"Much has changed since our first Garden Party, when there was nothing else like it in the UK: Facebook, YouTube and Twitter had yet to be invented and no one knew what a boutique festival was, let alone Glamping.
"Since then the Garden Party has defined and redefined outdoor events in the UK; we have done so as a collective of truly independent outsiders.
"We have never compromised our principles and we never will. SGP has always been a beacon of what you can do within those terms and, as imitation (being the sincerest form of flattery) proves, it has set the bar for everyone else going forward. But it is exactly because of those principles, and the love of those who have made the Garden Party what it is, that we are committing this senseless act of beauty."
But fortunately the festival's demise is not one that is going to end the company's presence altogether; they're looking to innovate and start something original.
Of their next moves, Fellowes says: "This isn’t some principled self-immolation: this is opening up it for the future. So this summer will be the almighty send-off that the Garden Party deserves and whilst that is going to cause some tears to be shed, think of it more as ‘Dylan goes electric’ than our Altamont. Because after all you can’t be avant-garde from within an institution and lest we forget: the frontier always moves."
So there is light at the end of the tunnel. But the event will be sad as Secret Garden Party has developed a strong following with many participants heading to the stunning lakeside site near Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire year-after-year. Many have expressed their support and sadness on social media. We totally concur with these below comments. What a festival it's been.
