Barn On The Farm Festival in Gloucester wrapped up it’s 2022 comeback in the early hours of yesterday morning for it’s 11th return to Over Farm. The festival has enjoyed a particularly well fated and illustrious lineup in the decade it’s been operating and become a hotly tipped breeding ground for all the next big things in music. Having started the festival back in 2009, its founder Josh Sanger has always had a knack for spotting new talent and giving them a platform to do their thing before anyone else. An impressive list of previous invitees has since emerged, with Ed Sheeran, Hozier, George Ezra, Sam Fender, Maggie Rogers, Lewis Capaldi, Dermot Kennedy, Ben Howard, and Rag’n’Bone Man being but a few names to feature on lineups gone by.
This year, I was lucky enough to play the festival and get a chance to snoop around (I moonlight as a wannabe popstar), and to cut to the chase, was pretty blown away by what Josh and his team have managed to put together over the years. Scattered with 3 stages, Barn, Outdoor, and Main, and accommodating no more than 2000 people, the site is small but bustling with more charm and sincerity than most festivals I’ve attended. Taking advantage of it’s status as a working farm, you can find ostriches, alpacas, donkeys, enormous pigs, and horses casually walking amongst the fields whilst interested and usually inebriated festival goers look on both amused and enamoured. There are hammocks, outdoor beds, orchards, and even the curious new addition of “Grandma’s House” to enjoy as you wonder around the site, the latter being the creation of chief festival designer Harriet Lily. Grandma’s House, a tiny wooden shack with an overgrown lawn and bras and stockings hanging on a washing line, remained a mystery until it’s opening at 19.00 on the Friday night, when it soon became swarmed with people looking to enjoy the late night DJ set that went on inside. Only able to house 15 people at a time, you are allowed to enjoy an aptly designated 15 minutes of dancing before being kicked out for the next batch of clubbers, with 220 Kid even dropping by to play a surprise set this year. Elsewhere James Bay, Bombay Bicycle Club, The Vaccines, Maisie Peters, Easy Life, Maverick Sabre, and Tom Walker headlined across the various stages over the weekend, with Holly Humberstone, Beabadoobee, Griff, and many other hotly tipped rising stars playing just beneath them.
As an artist playing there, the first thing you notice is an overwhelming sense of acceptance and welcome on arrival. The green room is the same for everyone, whether you’re me or Bombay Bicycle Club, everyone is put under one big barn roof that I can only imagine houses tractors during it’s everyday running as a farm. On the first weekend of July every year though, it’s home to hundreds of creatives from around the world as they wait to get on stage. With beer, cider, food, coffee, tea, and even a very friendly man named Tom’s bake off worthy homemade brownies scattered around the room, anything you want- the wonderful green room staff have got you covered.
Unfortunately I only get 500ish words to write this article, so I’m going to have to stop prattling on, however I would highly highly recommend checking this festival out and going next year. I think it’s my favourite I’ve attended so far and can’t sing it’s praises enough. For more info click here.
