Music festivals: Creamfields to celebrate 20th anniversary in August
Over the August bank holiday (August 27-30), the Creamfields festival will celebrate its 20th anniversary at the iconic Daresbury site in Cheshire, writes Music News Blitz’s Madeline Rhodes.
Creamfields is known as the largest electronic dance music (EDM) festival in the UK.
Around 80,000 people per day are set to attend, with more than 250 artists performing across 30 different stages.
Hosting the largest indoor festival in the world, their ‘APEX’ stage allows for a 30,000-capacity.
The huge indoor main stage protects festivalgoers from the natural elements until as late as 4am.
Where it all started
Promoters Andy Carroll, Darren Hughes and James Barton were inspired by their Liverpool nightclub Cream to start an outdoor festival.
The first ever Creamfields was on May 2nd 1998, in Winchester, Hampshire, entertaining a 25,000-person crowd.
From 1999 until 2005, the festival was held at Old Liverpool Airfield, where it continued to host one-day events every year.
2006 was when Creamfields moved to its final home in Daresbury, where it continued to be a one-day festival until 2008.
To commemorate its 10th anniversary, the festival expanded into a two-day experience and in 2010, they officially introduced camping options.
By 2016, it had slowly built itself up to the four-day festival we know today.
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Cleanfields
In recent years, Creamfields has focused on protecting the environment through its Cleanfields campaign.
The project encourages festivalgoers to respect the venue’s grounds by recycling where possible and reducing waste.
Reminding attendees that taking care of the site preserves it for future events.
The festival provides designated recycling points dotted around the venue and suggests bringing reusable water bottles for their free refill stations.
They even have Cleanfields Recycling Rewards, where you can earn a drink for returning 20 empty cups or cans to the Cup Exchange, and returning full bin bags will enter you into a prize draw for VIP side-stage access.
Many small actions like these help reduce the environmental impact of a festival that has such a high attendance rate.
The biggest names at Creamfields
This year's line-up includes a regular DJ at the festival, Calvin Harris, who has recently performed at Parklife Festival in Manchester.
Famous 90s EDM DJ Fatboy Slim will be performing on his own stage named “Fatboy Slim Loves” on the last day of the festival.
Newer DJs in the house music scene playing over the weekend are Chris Stussy, Josh Baker and Ewan McVicar.
Fans can look forward to seeing British brother duo Disclosure, known for their songs “Latch” and “White Noise,” both released in 2013.
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A look back at previous line-ups
Over the years, Creamfields has hosted some of the world's biggest DJs.
In the first year of Creamfields, Daft Punk played as a major headliner.
As well as Carl Cox, who will also be performing this year to his long-standing fans.
The 15th anniversary of Creamfields saw the EDM legend Avicii, who headlined four years in a row.
Set to be its biggest celebration yet, the 20th anniversary is a huge milestone for the festival.
Creamfields has changed over the years, but it will continue to bring world-class artists together with their fans.
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