Festival Coverage : Isle Of Wight Festival
- Written by Kenneth McMurtrie
The Isle Of Wight Festival these days hardly needs any extra advance promotion, given its association in the public consciousness with the original three events of the same name and the pedigree established over the 11 years since its revival by the Solo Music Agency. This year's festival takes place from 13 to 16 June and at time of writing major acts such as The Stone Roses, Bon Jovi, The Killers and The Boomtown Rats have been confirmed along with smaller ones such as Kodaline, Imagine Dragons, Rizzle Kicks and Imperial Teen.
A weekend's adult camping comes in at £185 but you can view the whole range of ticketing options by clicking on the festival name at the start of this article.
John Giddings of the organising team took time out from his packed schedule to answer a few questions we sent his way:-
MG) How far in advance of the event do you start planning/booking acts?
John) Over a year, it never stops.
MG) How easy is it to keep each year’s line-up as fresh as you’d like?
John) Reasonably easy as there are always new bands, but when you get them needs to be at the right time.
MG) Do you ever get massively let down by volunteers failing to clean up the site at the end of an event?
John) No, we go over it 3 times. Our duty is to return the site to it’s original state.
MG) Festivals seem to be more prevalent than ever in the UK – have you noticed any negative impact from this in recent years?
John) Everything responds to market forces. If you book the right acts it should be ok. That said you can’t dictate the weather!
MG) Have you ever considered franchising the festival to other UK or international cities/foreign countries or is it’s sense of location a major part of it’s success?
John) I have considered it but there doesn’t seem to be anywhere else called the Isle of Wight! Yes the exclusive location is a selling point.
MG) How much time to you get to see performances yourself over the weekend?
John) Not enough but I try to catch 1 or 2 songs of each act, that is part of the enjoyment.
MG) Have you ever had to miss an important life event due to festival related business/promoting a show?
John) Lots! Family birthdays, weddings, etc. It is hard to balance professional life with personal life.
Many thanks John and all the best for a successful event.