Festivals For All caught up with Nick Chambers, one of the guys behind Lancashire’s wonderful Beat-Herder festival. Rated by our reviewers as one of their best festivals ever, (here’s an example Review), we were delighted when Nick offered to share his thoughts and feelings about 2015’s tenth anniversary event.

FFA - As you start on the Final Approach to the 10th Birthday bash how are you feeling about it all?

NC - Well it’s part of the countdown and I'm being pinched by reality and that everything is really happening… of course we've began our final approach but it will really hit when the landing gear drops!

There are lots of different stages in the build-up and the journey to Beat-Herder – it’s a road to glory! (laughs).  We take a real working farm and make a town with all the infrastructure and amenities, all the stages, and artworks … I think we are blessed with Beat Herder because there has been nine years where we've sold out every year.. We can build the town but it’s the population that comes that makes the event… we are just so lucky to have this great crowd that come every year.

It’s all mixed emotion. On one side its ‘where the hell did that go’ (laughs), it all merges, but also every year has been so special and they've all been different. People take different things away – sometimes it’s when something new arrives at Beat-Herder, as it does every year, or a particular act as played. So I'm gobsmacked on how we got here - but on the other side it’s such an honour to be still doing it after 10 years. We came from free parties and the first year we lost money and one of the directors had to re-mortgage his house to keep it going … we've been through it all with Beat-Herder and so we all feel really lucky to still be doing what we’re doing.

FFA – Beat-Herder is renowned for its creativity – you've never gone for the easy option have you?

NC - Some festivals are a gig in a field and then there are other events which have got special things going on that people can immerse themselves in – and I think we are one of those. I think the music we put on is great of course, but at Beat-Herder there is a lot more going on than just the music and I think that’s down to us trying to put as much as we can in to it for people to enjoy. It’s about thinking from the outset when we started doing it, even from the free parties, when we were putting on other things for people to do and it wasn't ‘oh I just go & watch that band and then I’ll go to bed and go home.’ It’s really important to us – when we put a new venue up at Beat-Herder we could just put a tent up with a stage, but instead we've built 60ft sq. castles 30 ft. tall with fire coming out of the top; we've built a ring with Stonehenge type entrances in it… it’s all about ‘well we could just do this - but actually it would be nice to bring in a place like this’ – its only limited by what the imagination can think of.

FFA – Beat-Herder is constantly evolving – how does that process work?

NC - Basically there is a small group of us – an inner core of six people – there’s a common drive of creating and imagining. But when it comes to the actual event going on its like three degrees separation of friends – it’s those friends, and friends of friends, who come in and put it all together.

I think it’s us remaining as we are, both as friends, and a massive group, that those ideas that we first ever put in like the Woods – well we are not just going to sit on that and say we've got the Woods at Beat-Herder – but we've only got the Woods. The Woods is great and its where it all started, but the Fortress and the Ring and the Working Men’s Club, (in fact the Working Men's Club evolved on its own from three girls that went around with vacuum cleaners at the main stage, and they said they’d like to develop this) … these little ripples have grown into roaring successes.

FFA – and you've never compromised your Underground roots – has that been a constant in everything you do?

NC - There are constants within the festival where away from our creations of it and what we've wanted to do with it - which is, erm, working towards an event you can go to and not feeling you have to be watching your back or your wallet – it’s about freedom and trust and I think ultimately being fair. We could put drinks up say, but what everything adds up to at Beat-Herder is the atmosphere. It’s about getting every aspect right from when people set up the tent, to providing cheap food and drink – we run the bars ourselves - and it sort of goes on and on and it spills out along as many aspects as we can – we keep control of everything. We could get a trading manager in – but we vet every trader that comes on ourselves – vet pictures of what their stall looks like etc. Its meticulous attention to detail which actually encompasses most of the year – it takes a hell of a lot of time but when you see that all put into place on the weekend and you hear people saying ‘this is amazing and we’re definitely coming back’ and ‘this is my 8th year and its absolutely quality’ – you know that its working and I hope that that recipe of ours does not change.

FFA – Is Beat-Herder offering a view of your own ideal reality then?

NC - Yeah … we've always said it should be a break from life, demands, schedules. It should be a break – people have gone to gatherings and festivals for thousands of years. I’m not actually sure why we do (laughs)… but there is something in the genes which makes you want to congregate with like-minded people.

FFA – Beat-Herder is famous for all its different independent stages. You grant each stage autonomy to do their own thing – that requires a lot of trust?

NC - Absolutely. For instance, we met the Smoky Tentacles lot when we ran a café for a year (it actually funded getting the main stage up!) – we were on that catering circuit at other festivals years ago and met them and they came on board. Stumblefunk from Manchester - they are still with us. Everyone from our local scene and years ago - they are all still on board … it starts from us six working it through the year but when Beat-Herder happens it’s this friends of friends of friends thing, and there ends up 2,000 people working behind the scenes who, one way or another, know everybody. In terms of the trust - Beat-Herder has never been like a dictatorship - in fact it probably amplifies the democracy there that other people can bring in their knowledge and the sort of things their loving and ultimately you are suddenly faced with pretty much anything you want really – that’s why there are 15 different stages or so. It brings in other facets – much more than we could do on our own. You can’t beat bringing in different heads from different scenes and giving them a budget and saying make it the best you can on your stage … it works because everyone goes all out to make it the best thing ever.

FFA – Beat-Herder manages to offer a huge spectrum of musical genres year on year – I guess this year will be no different?

NC - We've loads of new music and lots of different avenues are explored at the festival but we've also got legends – acts that were playing before some of the audience were born, like Martha Reeves & The Vandellas - so it should be an education to people as well.

The beauty of Beat-Herder is that there isn't any genre defined venue. Even the Reggae tent is soul, funk, roots, ska and dub. We don’t really have genre specific tents – the bill of entertainment in each tent is like a little festival in its self. The people running the venues never pigeon hole themselves – there is a massive wealth of genres within each venue.

FFA – The music is but one small facet of the Beat-Herder experience – the site art is amazing for instance – there is a wealth of stuff and yet you don’t shout about it?

NC - Nothing stands out because there is so much of it! (laughs). So many creative people come and bring stuff to BH. Some is hired – but we do create most of it. The depth and breadth of it is crazy! Some of it is almost theatre props in a way but it should be really. In terms of the performance it’s not limited to the stage - it’s the fixtures and fittings sometimes.

FFA – It’s no real surprise to Beat-Herder regulars that you won the 2014 Extra Festival Activity Award?

NC - You've just reminded me we won that - thank you (laughs) … it’s the ultimate pat on the back if you like. At the same time there is a bit of pressure on to defend the title and that’s a healthy thing.

FFA – There are 100’s of acts appearing over the weekend but do you have any personal must-sees?

NC - Erm … all sorts of stuff – each stage does its own thing and does it really well – for example Moose Funk Squad – they’re a hip-hop act from Bristol and I think they are absolutely magic. Obviously Martha Reeves is going to be incredible – it’s going to be her birthdays that day as well!  In the Woods on Saturday there is a massive stir of excitement about Sheba San and then, closing Saturday night is Paul Hartnoll – half of Orbital. There are so many people – and in our 10th year, and we've not done it on purpose, but we are welcoming back a lot of people who have supported the festival from the start – Dreadzone, Eat Static, Zion Train, Dub Pistols, Utah Saints – the list goes on … and its really great to have them all under one roof if you like over the weekend.

Being the 10th it’s going to be special for everyone and special within every venue – I would expect that at least one of the venues will get a makeover.. What else can I say without giving it all away (laughs) – just say there will be peripheral candles on the cake!

The Beat-Herder Festival

Dockber Farm, Sawley, Lancashire, BB7 4LH.

Dates: 17th - 19th Jul 2015

Price: Tickets for adults (with camping) from £134.00

Article by Barrie Dimond