Amongst serious stomping jams we heard classic party starters such as Armand Van Helden's 'You Don’t Know me' and bongo-infused dance floor jives, getting the crowd ready for the nights activities with a fun start to the evening. Having built up a steady reputation for tropical based fun with a heavy helping of wax, these boys were a great warm up to the evening. Cabeza, an Aztec mask shaped stage situated by the lake, where Banoffee Pies were taking over for the evening. After a day of stage hopping, we started our evening by heading to the Opt. With so many stages on offer, Gottwood encourages you to explore the site in a different way every day, enjoying every minute and every sound as you come across it. Anyone who is familiar with the 25 year-old Leeds based club-night can imagine the hilarious and insightful tales of hedonism and house music that were revealed in the two hour interview and Q&A session that unravelled. Tristan da Cunha and Dave Beer of Back to Basics notoriety where first up to talk. The stage hosted interviews, workshops and straight up good times in collaboration with Stamp the Wax and Ruf Dug. We headed straight to ‘Ruffy's Lab’, which decorated to perfection to resemble the Wayne's World garage. With an eager crowd from the start, queues were forming already but those who were lucky enough to get in to the closed off stage were treated to an exceptional welcome party.Īfter some serious foot stomping, and with three more days left of Gottwood, we headed back to the centre of the site where a selection of food stalls surrounded the almighty Mother Owl stage - bigger and better than previous years, this stage posed as the perfect centrepiece for the festival.Īs the haunting sounds of Nina Kraviz' 'Pain In The Ass' belted from the wooden owl, we grabbed our first meal of the weekend - not of a standard festival burger and chips, but a Mediterranean vegetable hot pot from one of the many boutique food stalls that was available on site, which we enjoyed by the lake as the moonlight twinkled across the water.įeeling refreshed from our early night, we couldn’t wait to enter the woods again on Friday to enjoy the grounds in their daytime glory and to see what hidden gems the sunlight would reveal. We arrived on day one of the festival, beginning our weekend on Thursday night with a helping of raw grooves from legend Mr. Beyond the music, a whole host of artwork and interactive installations are waiting to be discovered in the woods, releasing your childlike nature as you explore – Gottwood truly forces everyone to become a caricature of their ‘real life’ selves. An unspoken rule has developed encouraging those that attend to dress how they’ve always wanted to dress, unleashing their weird and wonderful alter egos. Last but certainly not least, Gottwood is a parallel universe for escapism like no other.
Anita ward ring my bell halloween full#
Even when embarking on the journey down to North Wales, you head through idyllic scenery of coastal landscapes, towering cliffs, finishing off the drive by heading through an untouched traditional welsh village full of charm as you make your way to the hidden away festival site, where the natural beauty only continues. Secondly, this plethora of sound to be discovered is done so amongst an unbelievable setting. Never forgetting its roots, big names that span the genres of house, techno, breaks, bass and more are joined by smaller crews from around the country, with Banoffee Pies representing Bristol, Butter Side Up representing Leeds, Half Baked representing London, Wigflex representing Nottingham and many many more. Firstly, the line-up is nothing short of impeccable year after year.
The reason for its popularity comes down to a number of factors. 2016 was our fourth year in attendance, and it has been a pleasure to watch the festival grow into one of the worst kept secrets in underground dance music.įrom humble beginnings as a 1000 capacity ‘perfect weekend away from reality’ hosting three stages of fun across Friday and Saturday, as we reach this year's get-together, the mystical forest in wales has opened up further to allow revellers deeper into the woods to enjoy nine arenas each with their own personality for four days of musical madness. Now in it’s seventh year, Gottwood has built up nothing short of a loyal following from all of those who have attended previously.