'I founded a big UK music festival and the planning would surprise you'
The founder of the North East's biggest boutique music festival has revealed what it takes to put on such a spectacle as he reveals Glastonbury admiration
As festival goers get ready for yet another epic summer of live music, a founder of a long-running event has revealed the surprising cost to set up such a project.
This year has seen the likes of Glastonbury once again sell out in extraordinary time. The iconic Worthy Farm festival has plans for another memorable year before taking a break until 2027. The likes of Sir Rod Stewart and Olivia Rodrigo will be among the huge names on hand to wow the crowds across the various stages.
Reading & Leeds, Download and Kendall Calling will also be packed with music lovers, as will the likes of Creamfields and the Isle of Wight Festival.
Despite many new festivals popping up over the years, it's a tall order to face the test of time. However, for one founder, he's managed to do just that - and he's explained the intricate planning that goes into such an event.
Founder of Hardwick Festival, John Adamson, has confessed the pricy payout that comes with hosting such a sizeable shindig. Currently setting up for its 11th year in August, Hardwick - held on the grounds of Hardwick Hall in Sedgefield - is the biggest of its kind in the North East.
But John admits he's had to endure a number of stressful situations as it continues to snowball. Speaking exclusively to the Mirror ahead of this year's three-day event, which sees headline acts include Olly Murs, Pet Shop Boys, Sam Ryder and Scissor Sisters, John claimed fans would be surprised at how much such a spectacle costs.
"It costs over £2million to put it on," John confessed. "I don't think people realise how much it costs to put on a boutique festival like this. You've got the likes of the staging, lighting, barriers, sound systems and security to consider before you even think of the main acts."
He admitted it "takes a hell of a lot of planning" - and even revealed they have already started piecing together 2026's offering.
"We tend to use the same suppliers most years," he went on. "I like to use local suppliers and try to use same people. The stage comes from Oxfordshire though, because of the size that's needed." He confessed that having acts like Scissor Sisters and Pet Shop Boys, you've "gotta have a bigger stage!"
However, he explained he likes to stay loyal where possible to his suppliers as that means he can book in advance to avoid any headaches. "Like Sir Alex Ferguson had, we've got to have the right people in the right places," the Newcastle United-mad businessman said.
John joked that now he is getting older he doesn't help to put up the fencing like he used to, but insists he is "always there, pointing the finger" - something he says is crucial to success.
And he says his main bit of advice to others keen to grow such an event is to "persevere".
"One thing i've learned is it's about perseverance," he said. "If you can learn and persevere, you can succeed. I don't know any other boutique festivals like us in the North East are going as long as us, so we must be doing something [right]."
And he admitted he is always keen to keep it fresh, from acts to positioning of stages in order to offer a new "experience" each year. For Hardwick this year, he revealed there will be a new holistic wellness area that "brings that festival feel".
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The Herald Scotland
2 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
When time finally ran out for the Glasgow Apollo, forty years ago
The venue's peak came during the Seventies and for those of us who were there then, it, and the countless gigs we saw there, remain among the defining images of that decade. Alongside, perhaps, the Old Grey Whistle Test, John Peel's cult radio shows, and enthusiastic reading of the music weeklies – Sounds, NME, Melody Maker for news of the latest vinyl and tour dates. Not to mention, of course, the music of the time, whether it was punk and new wave, the Eagles, the Rolling Stones (below), prog, glam, reggae, heavy metal or soul. The Apollo memories are quite imperishable. The Rolling Stones were one of the biggest acts at the Apollo Many of the bands that played the venue are, like the Apollo itself, no more, having broken up for one reason or another: 'musical differences', frustration over a lack of success, a desire to follow individual dreams. But a gratifying number of groups are still thriving today: Neil Young, the Stones, the Cure, Status Quo, Rod Stewart, Iron Maiden, Deep Purple, Robert Plant, the Rezillos, Robin Trower, AC/DC, Rod Stewart, Alice Cooper, Eric Clapton, Hawkwind, Jethro Tull, Jackson Browne, Van Morrison. Santana, too. Led by Carlos Santana, who turns 78 next month, they entertained the OVO Hydro just a few nights ago, nearly half a century after their last appearance in Renfield Street. And then there's Paul Weller, of course; it was his old band, The Style Council, who brought the curtain down on the Apollo on Sunday, June 16, 1985. Time has been busy catching up with other Apollo acts. Black Sabbath, who played Green's Playhouse, the Apollo's forerunner, as long ago as 1970, are bowing out with a huge farewell gig at Birmingham's Villa Park on July 5. That same night, a few miles away elsewhere in the city, Jeff Lynne's ELO will play the first of five last-ever concerts – two in Birmingham, two in Manchester, and one in London's Hyde Park. Elkie Brooks, who experienced the Apollo on a handful of occasions in the latter years of its existence, is on a Long Farewell Tour. In August, The Who will embark on their North America Farewell Tour. To look through the comprehensive gig listings curated by the people behind the excellent Glasgow Apollo website is to be reminded the astonishing wealth of gigs that took place there, across so many genres. Read more: The names of some of the acts – Renaissance, Rare Bird, drummer Ginger Baker's group Baker-Gurvitz Army, the all-female US rockers Fanny, Gentle Giant, Kokomo, Glencoe, Golden ('Radar Love') Earring, the Groundhogs, Traffic, Japan's Sadistic Mika Group – are familiar to fans of a certain vintage today. Less familiar, possibly, are Tea, who supported Baker Gurvitz Army in 1975; Dave and the Mistakes, who opened for Elvis Costello and the Attractions in 1981; and Sandii & the Sunsetz, another Japanese group, who were the support act for (of course) Japan in 1982. It's interesting to look back at the music weeklies and see what they made of certain concerts. Here's a small but vibrant selection: * 'Heat, dust, smoke, lasers and Genesis combined to turn the Glasgow Apollo into a replica of Dante's Inferno when the band descended on the city on Friday night' – Melody Maker, July 1976. * 'Rory G[allagher] made it however, and played an undeniably proficient over two-hour set to the most rapturous reception I've seen in ages. The audience was crazy, drunken, happy, and collectively about as intelligent as the average tree-stump: in short, all the jolly working-class virtues that made me leave Glasgow in the first place' – Sounds, April 1978. * 'Fred Turner [of Bachman Turner Overdrive] is a real sweathog of a bass player. Whether he's hungrily engulfing chip sandwiches in a Glasgow hotel under the lights of a documentary film crew, or bouncing all over the Apollo stage until the lighting towers begin to develop major instabilities, you gotta admit the dude is, like, heavy, man. He ought to do a seesaw act with Leslie West' – NME, May 1975. Lynyrd Skynyrd were a hugely popular attraction at the venue (Image: Unknown) * 'As a unit [Lynyrd Skynyrd, above] peaked with 'Tuesday's Gone', which took on a church atmosphere – in Glasgow the audience even started the Terrace Sway.... In Glasgow, the entire audience sang 'Free Bird' in its entirety. That's freaky (good-freaky), 3,000 people singing homage to a guitarist [Duane Allman] they've never seen' – Sounds, February 1976. * 'Backstage at the Apollo the theatre photographer is taking a group shot of the Rolling Stones receiving their trophies earned by selling out the three shows there. 'More ANIMATION pleeeze,' Jagger shouts good naturedly to the nervous photographer. 'When the Faces played here they could only afford one trophy', Woody [Ron Wood] informs the gathering, 'so we gave it to Tetsu [Yamauchi] to make him feel wanted'. Tonight each band member gets their own special souvenir. Just another memory. Keith gives his to Marlon [his son]' – Sounds, April 1976. * 'For Scotland, the Pretender changed tactics. Wearing a tartan wool scarf, he concentrated on rock 'n' roll. It was such good rock that it made me think maybe the Eagles aren't the best American rock 'n' roll band. Maybe the best American rock 'n' roll band is Jackson Browne ... Browne's initial self-centred introspection gently fades away. The Glasgow Apollo was cold, and Jackson Browne wanted to warm the place up with some powerfully generated rock. I almost thought he'd do 'Whole Lotta Shakin'' – Sounds, December 1976. The Apollo was noted, then, for many things: for its unassailable place on the Scottish gig circuit, for the rampant fervour with which many groups were greeted, for the less-than-salubrious nature of its backstage facilities. It all added up to a brilliant, authentic venue. The Apollo was living on borrowed time 40 years ago, however. The outcry that had greeted an earlier closure date, in 1978, when the venue's operators were granted a licence to turn it into a bingo hall, was decidedly more muted in the run-up to the Style Council farewell in 1985. As to why, David Belcher, the Herald's music writer, had this to say: 'The answer on everyone's lips is the Scottish Exhibition Centre, which has been bruited as having the ability to stage five to 10 10,000-seater per year along with up to 40 annual 2,000-seater shows'. Belcher also noted that the Apollo was damp and crumbling and that its fabric had deteriorated alarmingly over the last five years – not surprisingly, perhaps, given that the place had opened, as Green's Playhouse, back in 1927. The Apollo's time was up, then. But who could possibly have guessed in 1985 that its absence would be mourned, four decades later?
Metro
2 hours ago
- Metro
Emmerdale confirms new accomplice for John as he gets rid of Robert
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Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Inside Glastonbury's prison: Festival has 'jail' to detain drug dealers and fence jumpers
For decades, music fans keen on attending Glastonbury would simply find a weak spot in the festival's fence and leap over for an entirely free weekend of music. However, since security was seriously beefed up in 2000, those attempting to do the same when Britain's biggest music festival kicks off on Wednesday could find themselves serving time at HMP Glastonbury. The Somerset festival, started by Michael Eavis in September 1970 and now in the hands of his daughter Emily, has security that's more expensive than that afforded to the royal family, reports The Times. Some 200,000 people will descend on Worthy Farm this week, with the average ticket price costing around £380 to see the 2025 headliners, who include The 1975, Neil Young and Olivia Rodrigo. However, those who try and find other ways to enter the 1,000 acre-site without paying will first have to penetrate Glastonbury's 7.8km fence, which towers 4 metres high. At various points around the site, there are also watchtowers, with security staff keeping an eye on goings on both inside and outside of the perimeter. Security is likely to be a major priority for Emily Eavis this year after hundreds of people snuck in with fake wristbands, costing just £50, and by vaulting the fences in 2024, causing stages to be shut down from overcrowding. One successful infiltrator told MailOnline last summer: 'It was ridiculously easy to get in. I joined a Reddit group chat of about 300 people and everyone was sharing tips and contact details of people who could break you in.' Revellers who try and outsmart the security - or misbehave inside - will find themselves with a one-way ticket to 'Glastonbury Jail', officially a holding space where people who break the rules are evicted from the site. While detained, those who've fallen foul of Glastonbury's laws - including drug dealers or people displaying disorderly behaviour - are allowed to make a statement before they're frogmarched off site, occasionally into the hands of the police. One festival-goer with first-hand experience of the makeshift prison told The Times that those held there temporarily were 'a weird mix of drug dealers, people who have been taken out of the festival for being too drunk or high, and those who had tried to break in.' Controversy has already marred this year's festival before the first song has been played. Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has said she thinks the BBC 'should not be showing' Kneecap's performance at the event. Band member Liam Og O hAnnaidh, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, is accused of displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah while saying 'up Hamas, up Hezbollah' at a gig in November last year. The 27-year-old arrived at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Wednesday morning following the alleged incident during a gig at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town, north London. Ms Badenoch said in the X post, which was accompanied by an article from The Times that claimed the BBC had not banned the group: 'The BBC should not be showing Kneecap propaganda. 'One Kneecap band member is currently on bail, charged under the Terrorism Act. 'As a publicly funded platform, the BBC should not be rewarding extremism.' The Tory leader has previously called for the group to be banned from Glastonbury, and last year Kneecap won a discrimination case against the UK Government in Belfast High Court after she tried to refuse them a £14,250 funding award when she was a minister. Kneecap took aim at Ms Badenoch in their latest single, The Recap, released just before their headline set at London's Wide Awake festival in May, with the song mocking the politician's attempts to block their arts funding and the Conservative Party's election loss. On Wednesday, O hAnnaidh, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, was cheered by hundreds of supporters as he arrived with bandmates Naoise O Caireallain and JJ O Dochartaigh at Westminster Magistrates' Court in 'Free Mo Chara' T-shirts. Og O hAnnaidh wore sunglasses, a black t-shirt, trousers and black jacket and held a Keffiyeh - a type of shawl often worn by supporters of the pro-Palestine movement. The members then walked up the stairs of the court and looked over the balcony, smiling and giving a thumbs up to their supporters gathered outside. Members of the crowd had surged around the entrance, with some also entering the lobby. During the proceedings, the court heard the 27-year-old is 'well within his rights' to voice his opinions on Israel and Palestine, but the alleged incident at the O2 Forum is a 'wholly different thing'. O hAnnaidh was released on unconditional bail until his next hearing at the same court on August 20. He requested an Irish language interpreter for the trial. Following the hearing, the rapper said: 'For anybody going to Glastonbury, you can see us there at 4pm on the Saturday. 'If you can't be there we'll be on the BBC, if anybody watches the BBC. We'll be at Wembley in September. 'But most importantly: free, free Palestine.' 'The truth was outed. This was a rushed prosecution following the Coachella performance where Kneecap did not shy away from speaking truth to power. 'Oppression fears the freedom of expression but the reality is Kneecap would stand up to the freedom of expresssion and they will defend their rights. Not only the rights of them but the rights of artists and people all around the world. 'And it's not new for Irish people to be prosecuted under special powers and terrorism acts. But friends, fans, family do not be afraid we are on the right side of history 'The more they come after Kneecap the louder we will get. If the British Government had any sense of history they will know they have already lost.' The charge came after a counter terrorism police investigation after the historical gig footage came to light, which also allegedly shows the group calling for the deaths of MPs. Formed in 2017, Kneecap are known for their provocative lyrics in both Irish and English, and merchandise. Their best-known tracks include Get Your Brits Out, Better Way To Live, featuring Grian Chatten from Fontaines DC, and 3Cag. A BBC spokesperson said: 'As the broadcast partner, the BBC will be bringing audiences extensive music coverage from Glastonbury, with artists booked by the festival organisers. 'Whilst the BBC doesn't ban artists, our plans will ensure that our programming will meet our editorial guidelines. Decisions about our output will be made in the lead up to the festival.'
