A Brief History of British Festivals
Life is a Festival #43: Live from Spotify London with Marcus Barnes
Photos by Simon Kallin
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Marcus Barnes, author and music journalist, is one of the most affable men I’ve ever met, and one of the most knowledgeable about British festival culture. So when Spotify asked me to do a live podcast for their London event “Rewound in Sound,” of course I called up Marcus.
On the podcast we speak of Britain’s brilliant festival history from country fairs and fêtes, through the goliath of Glastonbury, the acid house revolution, and the explosion of festivals today. We end our chat discussing Emile Durkheim’s idea of collective effervesce, participatory events like Burning Man, and the reason we gather.
Something I’ve noticed doing podcasts is that there can be an inflection point of shared vulnerability where we drop into effortless openness. I didn’t know if that would happen at a live performance, but as we discussed the Caribbean celebration Notting Hill Carnival, Marcus delivered and we caught a deeper vibe.
I’d like to offer my deep gratitude to Jessica, Kelly, Tom and all London Spotifiers for making us feel at home while we spoke about connection. Big ups to Simon Kallin for shooting this video!
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TIMESTAMPS
:03 - What is the unique British festival heritage?
:07 - How did we get to Glastonbury
:12 - The acid house revolution and the Criminal Justice Acts of 1994
:18 - Notting Hill Carnival and Marcus’ Rasta Soundsystem Dad
:22 - Today’s festivals, Rites of Passage, Doof Doof and Scally’s from the North
:27 - Immersive, participatory shenanigans and silly fancy dress
:34 - Why we gather
Graphics Designed by Andy McErlean
Theme song ““Peculiar Colors” [Manjumasi]“ by dj atish