What a Welcome to The Big Chill

2009 saw the Big Chill return to its roots for the celebration that could only be marking 15 years of totally chilled out bliss for the Big Chill faithful. This rather heavenly event had started out in life rather insignificantly as just a simple one day event in Islington's Union Chapel, the event as it was then gave folk the opportunity to spend their time relaxing to the strains of ambient music with other like minded music lovers.

So the Big Chill which was born from these unlikely humble beginnings evolved from the ever burgeoning club culture of the time, through the years the event has worked to remain true to its roots whilst simultaneously not being afraid to embrace the new, the weird and the wonderful. That’s a big plus point for the Big Chill, it can be a bit avant-garde and it’s not afraid to go where other festivals don’t, this was in evidence this year as Chris Cunningham’s rare live performance drew a crowd of fascinated festival goers who were held enthralled by the sounds and sights of a rather unique audio-visual spectacle.

The Big Chill is not the festival for those seeking a weekend packed with top star names you’ll find in the charts, this is less important at the Big Chill than at more conventional music festivals, that’s not to say that the festival doesn’t attract some big names, it certainly does, but to this festival the ambience, atmosphere and certain core values are the highest priority, this event is about having the total experience as much as it is about the music, it’s a community and as such it offers something just a little different.

Take a tiny tour of what’s on offer at Eastnor Castle

Eastnor Castle is the venue that’s been used for The Big Chill for the past eight years; it’s quite an idyllic location, set as it is in acres of beautiful land in a deer park. The castle towers over the arena adding to the atmosphere, the small but beautiful lake is lit up at night making the whole place seem quite mystical and magical. The art work dotted around, particularly the installations on that lake, can be quite stunning and at times breathtaking, all of which adds to the general overarching impression of a very relaxed venue full of possibilities.

The site tends to be quite spread out though and does mean that there is a lot of walking to be done if you want to get around and catch the masses of entertainment that’s scattered around waiting to assault your senses.  It’s quite difficult to manage if you commute and don’t camp as the walk to and fro can be quite taxing. This would make it quite hard to navigate if you have disabilities that make it hard for you to walk. It may be easier for wheelchair users and there is a recharging area for mobility chairs, but if you don’t use a wheelchair and have difficulty walking it may prevent you from doing as much as you’d want to.

 That aside, once you’re in and established the site really is packed with wondrous sights and sounds, a programme is essential as you will need to plan what you want to see and experience quite carefully, that is, unless you’re just happy to go with the flow which is certainly an option at a festival like this, you never know quite what you might find or experience around the next corner.

As you enter the site the first stage you come to is the Castle stage which is located within sight of Eastnor Castle itself, this hosts a quirky array of entertainment and tends to be quite a laid back affair. Just across from this stage is the long and challenging walk to the Enchanted Garden, this is well worth the effort though as it is yet another whole area of the festival that plays host to the ‘festival within a festival’ this Greenfield area provides lots of hidden treasures along with workshops, healing therapies, shops, workshops and even sauna’s.

Back on the ‘main’ street’ you’ll find the ‘Open Air’ Stage, set against the backdrop of the lake - the perfect place to see the headline acts by night and chill to the eclectic and diverse range of entertainment on offer during the daytime. The fact that the festival actually uses folk to compare so you know what’s going on also helps a lot and gives it a great welcoming feel.

As you wander on up through the site toward the newly appointed Coop area you pass by several cool areas that are always hopping with folk, the Frisky Bison cocktail bar is always full and provides a delightful area to rest awhile if you can keep still while all those beats are going down. Sailor Jerry’s was likewise a brim with happy revellers and The Dereliction Drive-In serves up quite a fun experience and certainly attracted its fair share of the crowd during the weekend. The Rizzla Arena, as always, a very popular choice among the Big Chillers, was humming throughout the whole weekend, there’s always a queue to get in here, they sure must be doing something very right!

We just adored Mr Scruff’s tea tent, a real highlight of the festival weekend for us (being the total tea addicts that we are!)  we know lots of you just like your booze but the tea area was always pretty full so there must be lots of other tea addicts out there too! A great place to while away a bit of time and have a relax and chat. The sounds here were perfect for the setting and we even spotted Mr Scruff himself serving the tea and cakes in between playing some stonkingly good tunes!

Still, if you were craving something a wee bit stronger and you were feeling a bit flush you could always hop next door to the fabulous Champagne bar – by the lake, glass in hand – does it get much better than this?

The Coop really worked well, a huge space which proved perfect for the eclectic mix of music, comedy and entertainment, it was a bit of a chameleon really changing ambience as the weekend progressed and the line-up changed. The Sunday comedy session was a lovely way to relax for a while and just laugh yourself silly, but by night the Coop gave out the trendiest of off kilter sounds all weekend long.

Big Chill Nights went for it big time with the sort of mayhem and madness we’ve all come to expect from Underbelly. The No Fit State circus was an inspirational addition to the festival yielding yet more amazement to this eclectic mix and adding another dimension to this rather clever festival that definitely knows a thing or two about how to properly mix it up.

Add to all of the above clever touches and areas such as the Crap Stage, Kids Areas, Cinema, Spoken Word  and an array of ad hoc performances going off all around the site and you’ll begin to see that this festival is actually huge, much bigger than initial impressions suggest, it offers far more entertainment than you realise or expected.

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