Farr festival is an up-and-coming boutique festival now only in its second year. It features four stages and for three days and two nights, festival-goers are submerged in Deep House, UK bass and DnB in the forests of Bygrave in Hertfordshire. Luke Swann reports back on the weekend.
Photograph: Will Warr
Being a small festival, it seemed like throughout the day at the campsite people just got to know everybody else, which suited the lack of activity in the arena. But when the sun went down, the value for money started to show. After the novel experience of walking between waist-high cornfields to get to the forest – which was littered with luminous trees, dream-catchers and other small attentions to detail – the DJs awoke.
On the smoother side of things, highlights included Bondax, Maribou State, Huxley, Eats Everything, Miguel Campbell and George Fitzgerald, lingering on a comfortable, relaxing sound that seemed to epitomise the vibe of the weekend. On the grittier and more abrasive side, Skeptical & MC Fokus, Alix Perez and Logistics produced some dark DnB that kept the energy levels high until the early hours.
Photograph: Ben Price/Just Jack
A couple of the smaller bands seemed to lack assistance when preparing for sets and more efforts were needed to entice people into the arena throughout the day, but these are just minor criticisms that are easily ironed out for next year, when Farr festival will undoubtedly receive the recognition it deserves. With a brilliant location, great DJs and vast cornfields (an essential to crash out in, undetected, at the end of the night), Farr is a fantastically priced festival and one that will only get better with age. The challenge now will be to retain its boutique charm in the face of the wider popularity it will no doubt face.
