Thousands were invited to the ultimate manor house party for four days of live music, electronic DJs, comedy, festival frolics, sensational street food and more
Last weekend’s lucky Standon Calling revellers bore witness to yet another milestone year for the festival, with an array of musical talent descending upon the stunning Lordship grounds including the likes of Suede, Jess Glynne, Kelis and many more. With a record attendance of ten thousand and live performances from both musical heavyweights and a crop of rising talent, Standon Calling also proved it was the leader in food, production, family (and even canine) entertainment, further securing its place as one of the UK's best-loved boutique festivals. To continue the celebrations and thank the fans, the festival are offering early bird tickets for 2017 from just £107 via the Standon Calling website.
Whether it was the bombastic display from The Hives, the ornate sounds of rising star Declan McKenna, Ghostpoet lighting up the Big Top stage or unforgettable DJ sets with Gold Panda and house veteran Theo Parrish the ship continued to sail at this year’s ‘Legend Of The Lost Seas’ edition of Standon Calling festival. Highlights on the main stage included a sun drenched and hilarious display from The Cuban Brothers, performances from Swim Deep and Everything Everything and the unforgettable headline performances from Suede, Jess Glynne and Kelis.
Dance heads took to the dancefloor with the festival’s first Hospitality Records takeover in an arena of decadence, the Cowshed stage, with stellar DJ sets coming from dance music heavyweights London Elektricity, Fred V and Grafix, S.P.Y, Krakota and more. Sink The Pink presents Savage Disco took the reigns on Saturday before returning on Sunday to the new Laundry Meadows stage with Artwork, Jonjo Jury and Guy Williams in tow. Music-lovers looking for something a little different were treated to immersive shows from Rotten Hill Gang featuring Paul Cook and Glenn Matlock (Sex Pistols), TOY, Razorlight’s Johnny Borell and more over at Laundry Meadows for The Great Brain Robbery with visuals from legendary auteur Peter Wynne Wilson.
For the first time ever, Standon Calling opened its doors a day early on Thursday for The Welcome Feast. The festival invited hungry festival-goers to taste the delights of the UK's leading street food traders including the likes of Burger & Beyond, Mac Factory, Club Mexicana and Waffle On. Kelis dropped in to serve customers from behind the counter at her pop-up collaboration with Le Bun before taking to a rare in depth Q&A at the Clock Tower. Ceru On Tour were also on hand over the weekend, providing a Levant inspired mezze feast in their own pop-up restaurant.
At The Admiral's Nest on the lawn of the Standon Lordship festival-goers could sit back with a delicious Flaming Lips Bloody Mary enjoying inspiring programming from Salon London who hosted a variety of talks exploring water, revellers were tickled pink with comedy from the likes of Yianni Agisilaou and Andy Storey, while Write It Mic It welcomed some of the country's best playwrights and spoken word artists to perform, as well as tunes and knowledge testing with the brilliant Sounds Familiar music quiz.
Workshops carried out across the weekend included creating beautiful handmade jewellery, DJ classes for teens and for those who fancied a more relaxed weekend, morning yoga and mediation, hot tubs, and the Soulfull Sanctuary were on hand to help. As the sun shone, Ibiza was brought to the festival by Baby Biza with the help of puppets, dancing and dress-up taking place in the family area, as well as classes and reading for the kids throughout the three days.
For the more daring, Standon Calling’s very own trapeze offered a try & fly session with soaring heights and incredible view of the main stage acts. Standon Calling wowed once again with its famous dog show awarding canines with ‘waggiest tale’ to ‘best walk’ to 'most like their owner' in what is arguably a highlight and certainly one of the most loved part of Standon's experience. The festival also held its annual costume parade where thousands flocked to show off the brilliant and often hilarious outfits from lobsters to jelly fish to pirates and so much more.
Standon Calling is very proud work with its charity partners War Child and Hertfordshire based Mudlarks. The two amazing causes are close the the festival's heart and it's a great honour to have been able to help raise awareness of children whom are affected by war as well as local residents with learning difficulties. All profits from cups sold at the bar and ticket auctions are to be given to the charities.
Standon Calling founder Alex Trenchard says: "What a year! We pulled out all the stops for our Legend Of The Lost Seas voyage to give our festival-goers a Standon Calling to remember. As always the musical performances have been incredible with Suede, Jess Glynne, The Hives and Theo Parrish just a handful of the highlights, but this year we've created a food and drink billing to match with our Sunday headliner Kelis cooking for fans with Le Bun, over 30 beers available across the festival and even our own pop-up restaurant with Ceru On Tour. And let's not forget our specially built arenas, new wellbeing offering and biggest family programme to date. A huge thanks to everyone who joined us for the party and we hope to see you also for Standon Calling 2017!"
Standon Calling will return in 2017 on 27-30 July. Those wanting to join the festival can get their hands on earlybird tickets now at www.standon-calling.com. For a very limited time tickets will be available for £107 for adults, £87 for a teen weekend pass (12+ years), £10 for a child weekend pass (4-12 years) and infants (0-3 years) will are £5.
Published on 02 August 2016 by Ben Robinson
