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What The Big Chill Is All About
The Big Chill is a multimedia festival, bar, club event and record label dedicated to transforming the spirit of our times.The Big Chill offers a highly evolved, all-round experience that is completely unique, with a wide variety of music and performance, art, dance and film; technology and its relationship with nature; identifying artists and nurturing their creativity; It is about energy,community and fun.
The Big Chill does not have a defined ethos, as such, but Big Chillers have been gradually shaping its feel and flavour over the years through input and involvement.
The story so far...
Founded by Pete Lawrence and Katrina Larkin in 1994, The Big Chill has grown from humble beginnings into a highly-respected organisation.
From its genesis as a Sunday all-dayer in Islington's Union Chapel, and an outdoor event the following summer which saw 700 people gather in the Black Mountains on the Welsh borders, The Big Chill's main annual event moved in 1998 to Dorset’s Larmer Tree Gardens as 'The Enchanted Garden', where it established its reputation as one of the most innovative new events over the next five years, as the number of Big Chillers grew from a few hundred to 5000.
After a one-off event at Lulworth Castle in Dorset in 2001, The Big Chill moved to its new home, the Eastnor Castle Deer Park in the beautiful setting of the Malvern Hills in Herefordshire in 2002. It has since upped its numbers to 35,000 in 2007 whilst retaining its intimacy - principally by word-of-mouth recommendation - ensuring that those who come to the event recognise and respect its unique atmosphere. The community lives on throughout the year through our bars and, of course, this website and its associated forum.
The Big Chill also runs a record label, releasing newly-discovered artists and compilations. And with The Big Chill taking its ethos worldwide with events in India, The Greek islands, Cairo, Helsinki, Budapest, Prague, Australia, New Zealand and Japan we are spreading the chill-out vibe all over the world.
Big Chill Artists
Music is a key part of our ongoing vision. The Big Chill follows its own musical instincts, and is seen as a tastemaker. As early as 96, Melody Maker described the festival line-up as "full of the messiahs of new music", and many of those messiahs, given early exposure at our events, have now built substantial followings - notable examples being Zero 7, Gotan Project, Royksopp, Tom Middleton, Mr Scruff, Lemon Jelly, Fila Brazillia, Talvin Singh, Bent, Amy Winehouse and Goldfrapp.
Our music policy tends to be anti-genre pigeonholing, as we encourage our DJs to play broad and varied sets. At a Big Chill event, you can expect to hear everything from classical to dance music, including folk, jazz, hip-hop, world music, funk, soul, blues, pop, lounge and ambient.
The Big Chill celebrates creativity in all its forms. It has been at the sharp end of audio-visual developments since its inception, as well as incorporating spoken word, dance performance, film and a wide variety of visual art for the nocturnal Art Trails at our summer events.
The company behind The Big Chill is Chillfest Limited, which is led by Pete Lawrence and Katrina Larkin, in partnership with the Cantaloupe Group.
Some of our favourite quotes
“The Big Chill is where dance music went when it grew up.”
The Telegraph
“The Big Chill has gradually grown into one of the summer’s major pop festivals. Unlike most stops on the current festival calendar, the Big Chill has managed to expand without losing its charm.”
The Times
"The best festival of the summer."
The Independent
"The best festival on the planet"
DJ
"The Big Chill are Britain's premier youth culture and arts specialists."
The Guardian
"Plenty of elements that we take for granted about contemporary club culture, from multimedia nights to innovative ambient listening, really stemmed from London-based event The Big Chill."
Time Out
"The Big Chill has proved itself the leader in multi-media entertainment."
The Times
"It’s hard to look up from your beanbag and think the grass is greener anywhere else."
The Guardian
"Another fantastic weekend of sunshine, great music, a great atmosphere and all-round loving-ness… it could only be the Big Chill."
iDJ
"You're looking at evolutionary entertainment, rather than a temporary blip on the club scene."
The Face
"A celebration of life on earth."
The Big Issue
"The festival was so well planned, it didn’t feel crowded. A spacious and eco-conscious rave for kids of all ages"
The Independent
"The best of the lot."
The Guardian
"The event of the year."
Wax
"The summer's best festival."
TNT
"For many, The Big Chill's critically acclaimed Enchanted Garden festival now ranks up there with Glastonbury as the must-buy ticket of the summer. Unmissable."
The Evening Standard
"Easily the best festival of the summer."
The Observer
"The Big Chill is the only festival in the world to appreciate all kinds of music. "
Norman Jay MBE
“Dance music, in all its shapes and forms. Live music, in all its shapes and forms, has come to this. Amazing.”
Norman Jay MBE
"The Big Chill are the ones that started it all."
Future Music
Written: 24th Jun, 04
Read: 67224 times
