We caught up with Y Not Festival’s Festival Ralph Broadbent ahead of the festivals first line up announcement, to discuss all things Y Not.

Y Not Festival is getting bigger every year, how will you ensure that it continues to be 'Small, Fresh & Loud'?

We’ve been lucky to enjoy some really successful events with Y Not and as you say, it’s lead to year on year growth. Because it’s still run by the same independent team that started it, it’s been easy to hold on to our approach so you’ll see that in everything we do, we keep an intimate relationship with our fans, always focus on them and the music and keep things fresh and exciting.   

What changes do you have planned for this year?

We’re having a site reshuffle, completely moving our third arena and opening a new fourth arena. The changes are designed to make sure the site stays new and exciting but it also makes it even more intimate.

Do you think booking Dizzee Rascal was a risk, as the festival roots are based in indie music and how do you think it will go down with the Y Not faithful?

He’s just a Rascal. I think it’s healthy to book fun bits and bobs – we had Electric Six last year & The Darkness. Y Not is about having a good time, our fans know that and whether it’s Dizzee, The Darkness, The Cribs or The Horrors, it will always be a great time at Y Not.

How important is it to you to bring through both local and national emerging talent?

Very important. We have the allotment stage which is dedicated to home grown artists. We also run a totally free, fair and transparent application process where artists get the consideration they deserve and are chosen on merit. We often get acts early that later go on to great things  -we’ve had people like Bastille, Jake Bugg, Noah and the Whale, Bombay Bicycle Club playing low down on the bill. 

What lessons have been learnt after last year’s site evacuation?

Bring lots of dry clothes. Joking aside, we’ve tightened up how we do things – it’s always testing when you have to put an emergency plan into place but on the whole, it was delivered very well. I think the technical changes we’ll be making probably don’t make for particularly interesting reading! 

Will there be more secret venues and late night entertainment this year?

Indeed – including a silent disco. 

Last year you launched the band planner, will this be available again this year?

We’ve got some tremendously exciting technology coming. We’ve spent the winter developing it and it’s going to take out a lot of hassle from planning people’s weekends. I can’t release too much info on it but it will be coming out in the next 6 weeks or so.

Has the increased number of exclusivity deals this year made it harder for you to book bands?

As Y Not’s got more popular, it’s become more attractive for artists to play it. Having said that, there’s no doubt that the major festivals like Reading and Leeds are choking the industry with exclusivities but everyone knows small festivals are better so I guess they are in a sticky situation...

Your first line up announcement has artists covering many genres, do you ever see yourself having stages dedicated to specific genres?

We do that to a degree with the Giant Squid but I think it’s much more interesting to mix things up. People love discovering new things at Y Not and it’s more likely to happen if things are jumbled up! The Giant Squid needs to be in a blackout tent which is why that one is a dedicated venue.

How do you keep up with festival news?

I tend to use www.festivalsforall.com