LATITUDE AT 20
LATITUDE
still uniquely positioned at 20
To mark the 20th anniversary of Latitude Festival’ s arrival, Christopher Barrett spoke to founder Melvin Benn and arts programmer Kirsty Taylor about its ongoing evolution, and the staff and suppliers who have played key roles in delivering the unique event.
Undoubtedly one of the most beautiful settings of any UK festival, Suffolk’ s Henham Park has provided a remarkable canvass of creativity for the creators of Latitude Festival since the outset.
While the neon pink sheep graze by the banks of the lake, you might see a worldrenowned artist glide past on a gondola on their way to perform at the Waterfront Stage. Turn into the woods framing the lake and you will find the leafy canopy playing host to an array of multi-art performance spaces and stages, such as the Sunrise Arena, The Alcove, The Lavish Lounge and Trailer Park.
It is a long way from the usual flat and open greenfield festival site, and that’ s why Festival Republic MD Melvin Benn fell in love with it.
He says,“ I sent a site manager down to take a look at it and he came back and said,‘ It ' s beautiful, it would be absolutely perfect but it ' s got a lake and a wooded area in the middle of it’. I said,‘ That could be just what I’ m looking for’. While it might not have suited a regular music festival environment, what I had in mind with Latitude was something more serene.
“ We considered the design and layout of the festival really carefully. Traditionally, at camping festivals, the first thing you see when entering the site is the music stages.
Melvin Benn
18 accessaa. co. uk