Field Day (festival)

Village mentality

The festival once hosted an annual village fete titled Village Mentality. Beginning in 2008, the area includes a sack race, tug of war and egg and spoon race. In 2008, the events took place until 5pm, finishing earlier than the rest of the festival. In 2009, the area was extended to include its own musical line-up, playing on the Village Mentality Stage. Acts included Mumford & Sons, Toumani Diabaté and Malcolm Middleton. The area is handled by organiser Tom Baker's partner Natalie Silk. Village Mentality was formerly known as Homefires, the last Village Mentality at Field Day was in 2018

Field Day radio

Field Day and Eat Your Own Ears founder Tom Baker, together with radio production company Folded Wing, recorded a series of radio shows in the run up to Field Day festival in 2012. It featured sessions and interviews with the performing artists and has been a regular feature of the festival since. Episodes included exclusives interviews and mixes from the likes of Pixies, Grimes, Solange, Mulatu Astatke, Panda Bear, Caribou, Omar Souleyman, Metronomy, John Cooper Clarke, Four Tet, Kurt Vile and many more.

Lineups

2007 festival

The inaugural Field Day festival took place on 11 August 2007, with the first Underage Festival taking place the same weekend. Over fifty artists featured across four stages, as well as a musical bandstand. Artists included the 1990s, Absentee, Adem, Alberta Cross, Andrew Weatherall, Archie Bronson Outfit, Bat for Lashes, Battles, Caribou, Casper C, The Cock N Bull Kid, Crispin Dior, El Plate, Electrelane, Erol Alkan, Euros Childs, Fanfarlo, Filthy Dukes, Florence and the Machine, Foals, Four Tet, Fridge, GoodBooks, Gruff Rhys, Hannah Holland, James Yorkston, Jo Jo de Freq, Justice, Kid Harpoon, Late of the Pier, Laura Marling, Liars, Matt Walsh, Matthew Dear, Miss Odd Kidd, Mystery Jets, Nadia Ksaiba, Patchwork Pirates, The Pictish Trail, Pull Tiger Tail, Skull Juice, The Aliens, The Concretes, The Earlies, The Lovely Jonjo, Vetiver, Warboy, White Rabbits, Young Turks and Zombie Disco Squad. Originally being billed as a capacity of 6,000, the amount was increased to 10,000 shortly before the festival.

2008 festival

The 2008 event took place on 9 August 2008, with the Underage Festival taking place the previous day. The entire site was redesigned by Vanguardia Consulting, who provide specialist advice on sound control. Capacity was increased to 20,000, and bars and toilets across the site were doubled. More than fifty artists were again billed for the festival, including Simian Mobile Disco, Les Savy Fav, Mystery Jets and Laura Marling. The event was headlined by Foals, in what was their first UK headline festival performance. A 25-member brass band was also added as a final addition to the line-up. The event now featured five stages, an increase from the previous year. The main stage was retitled the "Converse Century Stage", to reflect the company's 100-year anniversary in 2008. A similar stage was used at Underage Festival the previous day.

• Dan Deacon had been due to play on the NME stage, but was later forced to pull out due to passport issues. Mystery Jets also pulled out due to illness. They were later replaced by Lightspeed Champion.

2009 festival

The 2009 festival took place on 1 August 2009, one day prior to Underage. The first line-up announcements were made on 28 January 2009, when NME announced that Mogwai would headline the event. Four Tet, James Yorkston, Apes and Androids, Malcolm Middleton, Fennesz, Errors and Skream were also announced. Further line-up additions were announced on 7 April 2009, including The Horrors, Little Boots, Santigold and Mystery Jets. Other line-up announcements have been sporadically announced through the festival's Twitter account.

2010 Festival

The 2010 event was confirmed to take place on 31 July 2010, in their fourth annual outing in Victoria Park. On 9 February 2010, it was announced that Phoenix would headline the event, with Amiina, Beth Jeans Houghton, Caribou, Esben and the Witch, Chilly Gonzalez, Corsano and Flowers, Gold Panda, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, James Holden, Joker & MC Nomad, Max Tundra, Memory Tapes, Mouse on Mars, Pantha Du Prince and Silver Apples also announced to perform. Further acts were announced on 12 March 2010, when Babeshadow, Carte Blanche (DJ Mehdi & Riton), Chapel Club, Hudson Mohawke, Lightspeed Champion, No Age, Simian Mobile Disco, Tamikrest, The Fall, These New Puritans and YucK were added. The festival is set to expand further to six stages, including the Outdoor live stage, Adventures in the Beetroot Field arena, Homefires stage, Bugged Out! arena, Bloggers Delight stage, and the musical bandstand.

For the first time in 2010, Field Day is to take part in a festival 'twinning' scheme, organised by the Association of Independent Festivals (AIF). The initiative encourages twinned festivals to swap artists and cross promote each other's events. Field Day was 'twinned' with the Øya Festival in Oslo, Norway.

2011 Festival

The 2011 event took place on 6 August 2011. The next day, a companion festival took place, with the same organisers and similar stages at the location, under the name The Apple Cart festival.

2012 Festival

The 2012 festival date moved from the traditional August month to Saturday 2 June 2012 (bank holiday weekend). This was due to Victoria Park being used for events to celebrate the London Olympics. The Apple Cart festival took place again on the next-day Sunday.

2013 Festival

Following on from 2012's change in date, Field Day 2013 took place on Saturday 25 May (bank holiday weekend).

2014 Festival

In 2014, Field Day expanded to a two-day event. It took place on the weekend of 7–8 June 2014, headlined by Pixies and Metronomy.

Appearing were:

2015 Festival

The 2015 festival took place on the weekend of 6–7 June 2015, and was headlined by Caribou, Ride and Patti Smith.

2016 Festival

2016 was the 10th anniversary edition of Field Day. It took place on Saturday 11th and Sunday 12 June 2016. The line up was:

2017 Festival

The festival was reduced to one day and was on Saturday 3 June. This was the last year in Victoria Park.

2018 Festival

The 2018 festival moved to Brockwell Park in Herne Hill and took place on 1 and 2 June. The headliners were Erykah Badu, Four Tet, Thundercat and Fever Ray.

2019 Festival

The 2019 festival was at Meridian Water in Enfield on 7 and 8 June. The headliners were Skepta and Jorja Smith. There was a new system in place for the festival; a Day part and a Late Night part; the Day part of the festival finished around 10.30 pm and the Late Night part of the festival finished around 3 am. The line up was:

Friday 7 June

Saturday 8 June

2020 Festival

The 2020 festival was at Drumsheds in Tottenham on 11th July, with the likes of Floating Points (live), Tale Of Us**,** Mount Kimbie (DJ), Floorplan (DJ), Josey Rebelle, Maribou State (DJ), Ross From Friends (live), Special Request and many more joined BICEP (live).

2021 Festival

The 2021 festival returned to its original home, Victoria Park, on 29th August with a special live performance from the acclaimed Irish duo Bicep LIVE.

The full line up included:

Bicep LIVE (Exclusive London Festival), Adelphi Music Factory, Artwork, The Blessed Madonna, Donna Leake, Floating Points Live, Floorplan DJ Set, George FitzGerald (DJ) & DJ Seinfeld, IMOGEN, India Jordan, Jaguar, Josey Rebelle, Jungle (UK) DJ Set, KETTAMA, Logic1000, Mall Grab, Mount Kimbie DJ Set, Overmono Live, Prospa, Ross From Friends Live, Special Request, TSHA, & O'Flynn

2022 Festival

The 2022 festival was once again in Victoria Park, on 20th August with electronic music’s biggest duo, The Chemical Brothers, and the band that invented it, Kraftwerk, plus very special guest: Peggy Gou. Our 15th anniversary also features Floating Points, Daniel Avery [live], Squarepusher [live], Logic1000, Erol Alkan, Carl Craig b2b Moodymann, Folamour, and many more.

The full line up included:

The Chemical Brothers, Kraftwerk, Peggy Gou, Artwork b2b CC:DISCO!, Carl Craig b2b Moodymann, Cici, Daniel Avery (live), Denis Sulta b2b Mella Dee, Eliza Rose, Emerald b2b Jossy Mitsu, Erol Alkan, FJAAK [DJ set], Floating Points, Folamour: Power to the PPL [A/V], HAAi, Heléna Star, Kareem Ali, Logic1000, Otik, salute, Squarepusher (live), Tourist (live).

2023 Festival

After a sold out 2022 edition, Field Day was back at Victoria Park on 19th August with headliners Aphex Twin and Bonobo. Joining them were Jon Hopkins, Jayda G, Arca, Kelela, Fever Ray, Actress (live), Julianna Huxtable, Sudan Archives, TSHA (live), and more.

The full line up included:

2024 Festival

The 2024 edition was once again at Victoria Park on 24th August. The headliners included French electro house legends Justice and Belgian DJ and producer Charlotte de Witte, and further down the line up were the likes of Mura Masa, Romy, Shygirl, Yaeji and Sega Bodega.

The full line up included:

2025 Festival

Field Day 2025 enters a new chapter relocating to Brockwell Park, on 24th May 2025. The lineup announcement led by internationally celebrated DJ Peggy Gou, spans across 6 stages offering 6 diverse sounds.

As of May 2025, fifteen artists had dropped out of the line up due to ties to private equity firm KKR over its investments in the occupied Palestinian territories. Besides, more than 200 performers signed an open letter urging Field Day festival event organizers to cut ties with the investor firm.

The full line up includes:

References

References

1. "Field Day 2019".
2. (11 October 2024). "Field Day relocates to Brockwell Park for 2025 festival".
3. "Review: Field Day's 2021 homecoming reflected the good times returning to London".
4. "About".
5. "Field Day - Village". Field Day official website.
6. (December 2016). "Field Day Timings - Final Version". [[Drowned in Sound]].
7. "Organiser Tom Baker talks the origins of Field Day". Rockfeedback.
8. (20 March 2007). "Homefires IV line-up announced".
9. (6 July 2007). "FIELD DAY - 11TH AUGUST - LAST FEW TICKETS ON SALE". Eat Your Own Ears official website.
10. "Field Day 2007 Lineup". Virtual Festivals.
11. Kharas, Kev. (13 August 2007). "Exclusive: Field Day organiser answers festival criticism". [[Drowned in Sound]].
12. "Field Day 2008". Virtual Festivals.
13. (10 August 2008). "Foals play first UK festival headlining show".
14. (10 August 2008). "Foals bring soggy Field Day to sizzling close". Virtual Festivals.
15. (8 August 2008). "UPDATED: Downloadable Field Day stage times HERE". [[Drowned in Sound]].
16. Matheson, Whitney. (3 November 2008). "That iconic Converse shoe steps into centennial". [[USA Today]].
17. (11 August 2008). "Foals, Gallows, Glasvegas play Underage festival".
18. "Field Day 2008 Lineup". Virtual Festivals.
19. (6 August 2008). "Mystery Jets cancel more festival appearances".
20. (28 January 2009). "Field Day Festival headliner announced".
21. (7 April 2009). "The Horrors, Little Boots, Mystery Jets join Field Day line-up".
22. (15 April 2009). "Field Day - Lineup". Field Day official website.
23. "Field Day". Field Day official website.
24. (9 February 2010). "Field Day announces headliners for 2010 including main act Phoenix". [[The Independent]].
25. (9 February 2010). "Phoenix to headline Field Day festival 2010".
26. (12 March 2010). "Simian Mobile Disco, The Fall, These New Puritans added to Field Day 2010 line-up".
27. (10 March 2010). "The Fall, and These New Puritans for Field Day". eFestivals.
28. (12 April 2007). "Field Day Festival (UK)". [[Gigwise.com]].
29. (1 March 2010). "AIF Launch New Initiative To 'Twin' Independent Festivals". The Association of Independent Festivals.
30. Parkinson, Ben. (1 March 2010). "AIF launches festival 'twinning' scheme". Virtual Festivals.
31. "Midland, Spray, Roza Terenzi and more cancel Field Day sets amid KKR boycott · News ⟋ RA".
32. Howe, Megan. (2025-05-16). "Mighty Hoopla issues statement amid KKR 'unethical investments' controversy".
33. "Brian Eno, Ben UFO and Jyoty sign open letter calling on Field Day to distance itself from KKR".