Eastnor Castle Deer Park, Herefordshire, Thursday 6th – Sunday 9th August 2009
Fifteen years old, but fresher and more innovative than ever before, the pioneering festival returns with an unrivalled programme of music, comedy, art, spoken word, film – and a field full of zombies
Following on from a defining year in 2008, The Big Chill returns with a line-up packed to the rafters with some of the most credible names across culture and entertainment. Led by a musical triumvirate that features the iconic David Byrne, dance legends Basement Jaxx and the specially-reformed Orbital, this year’s festival will again be a multi-art form celebration as rich as it is diverse.
Epic experimentalists Spiritualized will bring their stunning set to Eastnor, as will Adrian Sherwood’s Dub Syndicate, recently reunited electronic duo Lamb and Arizona-based rockers Calexico. A strong European dance contingent will include electronica acts Gablé and To Rococo Rot together with French psychedelics Gong.
There will also be festival homecomings Tom Middleton, the indispensable Norman Jay and through the weekend Mr Scruff’s Tea Party will be hijacking Big Chill Radio.
The Coop – a new tent for The Big Chill 2009 – will be hosted on Friday afternoon by Wonky Pop featuring indie-disco-dance hybrids Friendly Fires alongside Alphabeat DJs and a trio of up-and-coming talent in the shape of Magistrates, Marina & The Diamonds and Dan Black. Glaswegian stalwarts Sub Club will host the evening session with DJ sets from Slam, Optimo and Subculture.
London uber-cool trendsetters Horse Meat Disco will then share proceedings with fellow Saturday residents, bohemian internationalists Favela Chic, whose line-up will consist of Ska Cubano, Zombie Zombie and DJ Sandrinho.
With the gates opening at 10am on Thursday 6th August there will an extra full day of festival festivities to partake in – making The Big Chill 2009 a real Summer ‘staycation’.
That evening, courtesy of the BFI, the Mercury Award nominated British Sea Power will perform a UK festival exclusive on the Open Air Stage, as they re-score both the classic Man of Aran, as well as providing a soundtrack to scenes from Jacques Perrin’s stunning documentary Winged Migration.
Film
Thursday will also see an invasion of the undead as Film4 and Warp Films invite Chillers to take part in an attempt to secure an entry into the Guinness Book of Records by shooting the world’s first and largest audience participation zombie motion picture. A downloadable movie, available at the end of the festival, will hopefully capture the largest-ever number of zombies on camera.
Ensuring the nerve jangling does not stop there, Film4 will proceed to screen an all-nighter of eerie flicks.
Through the festival, Film4 will present the Dereliction Drive-In, of deserted and abandoned cars, among, on and in which, Chillers may roam, sit and crash out. As screens play ghostly re-mixes of classic and imagined road movies, car stereos will crackle with soundtracks specially recorded by guest artists and DJs.
This year will also see the all new Film4 Cinema Tent, where super cool road movies will be shown, hot on the heels of their amazing success with Slumdog Millionaire, alongside Bollywood and Bollywood-inspired classics. And Bollywood dance classes will be held in tandem for those who wish to don their salwar kameez and cut some shapes in front of the silver screen.
This will also be the home for The BFI, who along with The ICA, return for a second year. Inspired by the 40th anniversary of the moon landing and the international year of astronomy, they will each curate a unique mix of feature length and short films, live scores and talks.
Comedy
Held in the rural idyll of Eastnor Castle Deer Park, The Big Chill 2009 will also host the cream of comedy.
Having wooed and wowed Chillers in equal numbers at the festival last year, with a triumphant headline appearance on the main stage with his Boosh sidekicks, Noel Fielding will be back with a solo stand up show in the Coop.
Joining him on Saturday afternoon for a triple header of huge stars will be Dylan Moran and Russell Howard.
Now an established stop-off for top performers, this year will see the festival awash with award winners and Edinburgh’s finest. Underbelly return to the Big Chill Nights Tent with a witty contingent comprising Barry Castagnola (MC), Stephen Grant, Terry Saunders, Jerry O’Donnell, Ray Peacock, Sean Hughes, Pierre Hollins, Ben Norris, Marcus Birdman, Rob Rouse, Mitch Benn, Ian Stone, Craig Campbell and Josie Long.
Cabaret and Circus
Circus ensemble NoFit State will bring their family show and workshops to the festival, as well as a specially devised after midnight performance for adults only.
The kooky and strange Perverse Universe return with aerial acrobatics and cabaret. Expect a weekend of aerial circus and awe-inspiring fire shows. All rounded off by Jonny Woo’s deliciously wicked variety show spectacular, featuring Gay Bingo and Hot Breath Karaoke.
Photography, Art and Spoken Word
World famous photographer Rankin – a man who has snapped everyone from Tony Blair to the Queen, via the likes of Kate Moss her celebrity contemporaries – is inviting festival-goers to take part in his unique live and interactive exhibition concept Rankin Live!
Before he shoots and instantly prints the portraits of 1,000 Brits at his museum-scale exhibition in August, Rankin is holding an open call process for people aged 13 and over, the only criteria of which is a distinctive style, with sense of British eccentricity and enthusiasm.
Normally a Brick Lane neighbour of the festival’s Big Chill Bar, the Vauxhall Art Car Boot Fair has presented an astonishing selection of exciting art works and art wares from some of the UK’s foremost artists since 2004, including Gavin Turk, Sir Peter Blake, Bob and Roberta Smith, Stuart Semple and Tracey Emin.
Heading for the hills on a rural road trip away from its familiar east London home, one of the country’s most innovative art fairs will park up The Big Chill 2009. As a ‘fete within the festival’ it will be a haven for both browsers and bargain hunters throughout the weekend.
With its own Village Green at the heart of festival, Chillers will also be able to play the human fruit machine Yoo Froot! and enjoy a karaoke sing along with the fabulous East End party house, the Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club.
Artist Henry Krokatsis has been working closely with the Art Trail curator Alice Sharp developing his ideas to respond to Eastnor Castle’s landscape and festival setting.
He will create a ten metre high ‘helter-skelter-lighthouse’ as a centre piece for the festival. It will be situated on the lake by the main stage and illuminated after dark by festoons wrapped around its skeleton.
Word In Motion offers a programme featuring word gamesters from all walks of life – authors, comedians, lyricists, late night storytellers and lovers of language bring a weekend of entertainment with a difference.
Apples and Snakes return to the tent with their offering of fresh and funky spoken words. Ursula Rucker is also back to headline, along with eminent UK street poets, the legendary Liverpool poet Brian Patten and the remarkable, cooler than a cucumber, author, broadcaster and performer Lemn Sissay.
The talks programme is introduced by publisher James Brown and will feature Tony Benn and music mogul and festival producer Vince Power.
The Victorian Funfair and Kids Zone
Experience some Victorian time-warp fun as you gallop with glee on the Pony ride Carousel, or get high in the sky over the festival on the helter skelter as the Victorian Funfair returns to The Big Chill, along with its 19th century flat-capped and bonneted crew.
Enchanted Garden
With the 15th birthday celebrations this year, The Big Chill has been looking back to its roots and redefining what it means to chill out. Set in a beautiful woodland space and placing equal emphasis on surroundings and performance, Stop the City will be the place to escape the rat race. It will feature artists, sound-based installations and visuals that lie far from mainstream life. Expect anything from found sounds, classical to minimalist electronic perhaps with a dose of interactivity.
The area will also feature a knitting area, Crap Stage, the Busker’s Stage, in association with SolarAid, tethered balloon, therapies and Monkey Shoulder.
The Crap Stage is calling all bands, magicians, contortionists, poets, orators and assorted musicians to perform this year. Traditional backline and costumes provided but please feel free to bring your ukulele and a sense of humour to join in on a first come first served basis.
Following on from the eccentric and joyous delights of last year’s presence; The Buskers are returning with performing pirates, Dr Butlers Hatstand Medicine Band and the debut festival appearance of Another Fine Day’s new acoustic project based around the Hang Drum and the Aray Mbira.
SolarAid, a charity that empowers the world’s poorest communities to create clean renewable power, have hooked up with the festival to create The Busker Stage.
The Big Issue
The new landmark collaborations for 2009, with the likes of Vauxhall and Film4, add breadth to the content of the event – alongside the breakthrough partnerships which were set-up last year, and return this.
One of those formed in 2008, the festival’s friendship with The Big Issue has since grown ever-stronger, and was chosen to help mark the mid-teen anniversary. On 16th March 2009 an album was released to help raise money for the homeless charity, with all profits from the 15 by 15: a celebration of 15 years of The Big Chill compilation going to the aid organisation.
The track listing was determined by 15 Big Chill luminaries selecting a tune each. The audio scrapbook features the likes of Norman Jay MBE, Gilles Peterson, Tom Middleton, Mr Scruff, Coldcut, Tuung, Jon Hopkins and the Big Chill Forum dwellers. Opting for tracks by Orbital, The Cinematic Orchestra, 4 Hero, The Orb, Ulrich Schnauss and Jon Shuttleworth the memento serves as a permanent reminder of bygone Summers.
Official vendors will again be back selling souvenir Big Chill special editions of the magazine to supplement the festival programme.
Rough Trade
The Big Chill has also partnered with Rough Trade, the pioneering record label and iconic outlet.
Getting Ready For The Big Chill
Before the festival itself, come The Big Chill warm-up parties. Following March’s London launch at Cargo where queues snaked through Shoreditch for a taster from Orbital’s Phil Hartnoll, The Big Chill will board the Eurostar and is bound for Paris.
On Wednesday 22nd April will go international for a preview party in the French capital at Favela Chic – Futurecop! and Gablé will play live with DJ sets from Toddla T and Gringo da Para.
The line up so far….
www.bigchill.net/festival/info/line-up
Alice Russell
Alphabeat DJ Set
Barry Castagnola
Basement Jaxx
Bassclef
Ben Norris
Benny Page
Boy Crisis
Calexico
Capoeira
Chinese Man
Chrome Hoof
Congo Natty
Dan Black
David Byrne (Sunday)
DJ Derek
DJ Sandrinho
Dub Syndicate
Favela Chic
Friendly Fires
Futurecop!
Gablé
Greg Wilson
Gong
Horse Meat Disco
Hypnotic Brass Ensemble
J Star & MC Honey Brown
Jeremy O’Donnel
Joana and the Wolf
John Hegley & the Popticians
Kode 9 & Space Ape
Lamb
Lindstrom
Ludovico Einaudi (Sunday)
Magistrates
Marina & The Diamonds
Moody Boyz
Mr Scruff’s Tea Party
Mulalu & Helicentrics
Mungo’s Hi-Fi
Music from The Penguin Café
Norman Jay (Sunday)
Optimo
Orbital
Pharoah Sanders
Pierre Hollins
Ray Peacock
Red Rack’em
Red Sarah Perverse Universe
Richie Phoe
Robin Ince
Ska Cubano
Slam
Spiritualized
Sub Club
Subculture
Summer of Dub
The Gist
Tim Sweeney & Tim Goldsworthy
Toddla T feat MC Serocee
To Rococco Rot
Tom Middleton – One More Tune set (Sunday)
Wonky Pop
Zombie Zombie
