The secret is out
Having not staged the event since 2017 , organisers of the “ passionately independent ” Secret Garden Party ( SGP ) are working on its return this year . Despite a difficult market backdrop , all tickets for the festival have been snapped up and its booker and production manager James Brennan is understandably delighted to be working on it again .
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In the years since Secret Garden Party ( SGP ) owner Freddie Fellows launched it at Abbots Ripton in 2003 , the festival has been steadily expanded from a small-scale show entertaining hundreds to a multi-stage event with a capacity of 30,000 .
James Brennan started promoting concerts when still at school before going on to study arts and event production and working at venues including London ’ s Shepherd ’ s Bush Empire and Mean Fiddler .
In 2008 , he joined SGP as production manager and music booker . Here he explains why 2022 was the right time to revive the festival despite the obvious market challenges .
SGP is known for creativity and independence
After a five-year hiatus were you concerned about reviving SGP this year , with it being such a busy one for events and there being obvious concerns and challenges around the supply chain ? I was more excited than concerned . Yes , it is a hugely busy year for events and an incredibly tough market – I am certainly experiencing it across other shows – but SGP has a certain magic that left a real hole in the festival scene . When Freddie called and asked if we could get the band back together , I couldn ’ t have been more pleased . I knew there would be challenges , wide increases in prices across the board , but I was confident we could make the show work again . Some rejigging on schedules was needed , but we came to some great agreements in the end .
Have you had any supply chain issues so far ? Toilets and cabins were the biggest hurdles to get over but we booked everything up some time ago , after much additional work . Our relationships with our suppliers and contractors are as strong now as they were when we stopped SGP five years ago . We have all continued to work together on other shows , and I ’ m very proud to say we all jumped at the opportunity to work with each other .
Are there any new developments with your event set-up this year in terms of the size , shape and facilities ? I can ’ t give away too much , as part of the whole model for us going forwards is to create a fully “ secret ” garden party . But we have reduced the size of the festival by a third , have put in new venues and partners , plus a greater emphasis on trying to ensure a safer space for all the walks of life that SGP welcomes . At the same time , we are keeping to our principles of having no above-the-line sponsorship or branding and making sure that all our waste is either compostable or recycled . Harm reduction is , as ever , a core principle and , as long as the Home Office is willing , we will be hosting the LOOP ’ s drug-testing set-up .
Are you handling the production in-house or using an external agency , and if so which one ? We have always run the production in-
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