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Secret Garden Party 2024: Taking it back to the Roots

SECRET GARDEN PARTY 2024: PREVIEW

23rd July 2024

For many years, Secret Garden Party has flown the flag for grassroots artists as an intimate and independent music festival. That’s not to say that it hasn’t grown over the years, though, and this year they feature no explicit 'headline' artists; instead, expect fluid and intimate stages of grassroots artists performing together, albeit at different stages in their careers. This unique take on festival programming for this year’s ‘Roots’ 2024 edition conscientiously promotes the growth of grassroots musical discovery and experience.

To begin with, there's a few familiar faces in there, such as the intense and compelling narrator REN who returns to Secret Garden after four years. Alongside him is UNKLE, AKA James Lavelle’s diverse hip- hop-to-stoner-rock outfit that has seen collaborations with Richard Ashcroft and Radiohead’s Thom Yorke which we are looking forward to.

More familiar to us are the wonderful rhythmic healing of K.O.G who we have recently seen at his incredibly powerful Kusum dance workshops, UKG-dancehall blends from Danny Rankin (Kurupt FM), The Egg, Professor Stretch, and Doghouse. And as Secret Garden Party is widely known for its theatre and spectacle as a party-playground, we are most looking forward to immersing ourselves in this environment for the first time and getting lost along the way.

Reflecting on our experience at this year's Glastonbury, we have found that hearing new sounds in a magical landscape is pretty memorable, and that following a programme for ‘headliners’ alone only goes so far. While we all love singing and dancing like nobody is watching to our favourite tune live, it is important to remember that the vast majority of our favourite artists started out in grassroots venues.

There’s no doubt that Secret Garden Party has been at the forefront of championing grassroots venues and artists for some years now. And this is in light of the ongoing crisis to find sustainable support for grassroots venues; this year alone, over 50 UK festivals have cancelled due to financial constraints – including the likes of El Dorado, Splendour and Bluedot.

Secret Garden Party’s commitment to supporting these artists we feel is encouragement for people to follow the intrigue of their ears to discover new and up-and-coming artists, as opposed to those that they can identify on a line-up.

Much like how we aim to break down barriers in the music industry with genuine conversations, SGP pledge that: ‘with no division between on or off stage, the party strongly encourages audience involvement through action camps and immersive entertainment.’ Or, like how trees talk to each other through communities of mycorrhizal networks driven from their roots, we envision this years ‘Roots’ edition to be an all-immersive garden of connection.

We are also proud to mention the Save our Scene (SoS) takeover, led by George Fleming – a role model spokesperson for the sustainability and longevity of grassroots music and culture, who has spearheaded grassroots fundraising alongside Nia Archives and Music Venue Trust earlier this year. More recently, they have teamed up with MiniRigs and Human Traffic at Glastonbury for a moveable takeover, scuttling around in Arcadia’s roaming Bug stage.

We also look forward to Dubtendo, the Nintendo themed ravers injecting life and silliness into Bristol’s party scene, who are known for their outlandish pop-ups – ranging from rowdy train takeovers to walkabout football sets and more. Stripping things back to get people moving to universally recognisable, childhood gaming music is pretty fitting for the Roots of Secret Garden Party.

Credit - Eddie Hubble , Save Our Scene

This year's carefully curated grassroots network supports not only those at the top of their game, but a whole system of music creation and discovery. From an artists perspective, SGP facilitates an intimate network for grassroots artists to perform and progress with their music. Similarly, as a punter you are immersed into the same intimate network to experience new music, find hidden gems, and support the roots of the music industry - all while seeing and hearing artists grow in real time.

If you're looking to experience 'Roots' this year, be sure to grab a ticket here.

See you there! X

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