UK festival Wild Fields salvaged
Wild Fields, a new festival planned by ATC Group and the team behind Norwich-based multi-venue festival Wild Paths, has been salvaged.
Originally, the festival was slated to be a three-day, 10,000-capacity camping event at Raynham Estate in North Norfolk.
However, organisers announced in February that due to “escalating production costs and poor initial sales” they were battling to reconfigure the festival.
Now, Wild Fields has been revived as a two-day city gathering, set to take place at Earlham Park in North Norfolk.
Ezra Collective, SBTRKT, Kae Tempest, Sampa The Great, Squid, Jalen Ngonda, Nubya Garcia, Jeshi, Priya Ragu and Yazmin Lacey are among the acts set to perform at the festival, which is a signatory of Keychange’s 50/50 pledge.
“It was a really tough couple of weeks trying to navigate the cancellation and then pivoting and reformatting the event at a new location”
“It was a really tough couple of weeks trying to navigate the cancellation and then pivoting and reformatting the event at a new location. We had to lean heavily on the support from local institutions, partners and our community,” says director Ben Street,
“Wild Fields now feels like a bit of a unicorn as I think we’re one of the only new festivals of our size (5,000 +) happening this year. I’m just glad we could find a way to deliver the festival and bring the event back to Norwich. We’ve been running festivals and events here for the past six years and with the site being so close to the city-centre we’ve seen a much better response, but it’s still been a real challenge to engage audiences.”
Street will work on the festival with ATC Group chief executive Adam Driscoll, who is also the former co-CEO of MAMA Group and director of Vision Nine.
In addition to live music, Wild Paths will feature climate debates and workshops, industry panels, live street art and regional food offerings.
The “socially conscious” festival will also focus on green initiatives and sustainability, working with travel partners, waste management teams, merch providers and power suppliers.
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ATC Group and Wild Paths launch new 10,000-cap fest
ATC Group and the team behind Norwich-based multi-venue festival Wild Paths are partnering on a new 10,000-capacity festival in the UK.
Wild Fields will be a greenfield event at Raynham Estate in North Norfolk that will “showcase the best music from across the genre spectrum, pairing it with woodland dining, immersive performance & wellness experiences”.
Ezra Collective, SBTRKT, Los Bitchos and Nightmares on Wax are among the more established names on the bill for the inaugural event, set for 15–18 August 2024.
But festival director Ben Street says the event will take note from Wild Paths in showcasing emerging musical talent, particularly from East Anglia.
In addition, the festival will aim to offer “a truly diverse range of festival performers,” having signed up to Keychange’s 50/50 pledge.
“Wild Fields will be a truly unique event with a varied and progressive musical line-up”
The “socially conscious” camping event will use locally sourced food and drink suppliers, and will have a strong focus on green initiatives and sustainability, working with travel partners, waste management teams, merch providers and power suppliers.
Street will work on the festival with ATC Group chief executive Adam Driscoll, who is also the former co-CEO of MAMA Group and director of Vision Nine.
“Wild Fields will be a truly unique event with a varied and progressive musical line-up paired with renowned wellness practitioners, festival banquets and immersive performance. From dawn to dusk and deep, deep into the night there’ll be a plethora of ground-breaking bands and DJs to keep even the most seasoned festival reveller entertained and inspired,” says Street.
“We’re so happy to have found such a beautiful site as Raynham with its historic walled gardens, secret wooded paths and lush wild meadows. The Raynham team share our vision for delivering a groundbreaking new festival in the region and bringing some world renowned artists, performers and practitioners to this stunning stretch of North Norfolk.”
Wild Fields reportedly has a five-year deal with the site owner and will aim to grow its capacity year-on-year.
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