There seems to be a really special atmosphere created when combining music, nature and art. It’s a simple formula which Houghton Festival adopted to create the most memorable and magical four days I have had at a UK festival.
Curated by Craig Richards and produced by the team who have run several highly successful Gottwood festivals, Houghton debuted across August 10 to 13. 72 hours of nonstop music, spread across nine different stages and consisting of genres ranging from disco to deep minimal and live performances — there really was something for everyone.
Nestled in the grounds of Houghton Hall, a country house built in the 1700s and adjacent to the royal residences of Sandringham, the festival location encourages revellers to whole-heartedly immerse themselves in the musical utopia – something easily done when you realise phone signal is non-existent.
As Thursday’s sunshine turned to darkness, hordes of people headed to the quarry for Move D’s mind-blowing set. Located in a ditch reminiscent of an amphitheatre, the powerful sound system and hypnotic lasers were just a taste of what was to be expected of the weekend ahead.
Friday night into Saturday morning were the hours I had most anticipation for. Sonja, followed by Raresh and then Rhadoo was an idyllic stage line-up I never thought I’d witness at a UK festival. As I headed to the warehouse I was greeted with the tail end of Deadbeat’s set, before Sonja seamlessly took over and put us all in a trance, with a mixture of techno and old rave records. The warehouse was constructed with powerful, ear-thumping techno in mind and it did not disappoint. Even minimalist Raresh ditched his preferred, stripped-down genre to blast out some 90s rave tunes, acid basslines and heavy techno tracks.
Rhadoo continued the surreal experience and carried us through to lunch time with his usual, dark minimal and highly hypnotic vibe. At this point, the crowds had thinned out but those that remained were awoken with his classic Romanian sounds, as the day grew brighter and morning became afternoon.
Later on in the day, I ventured out to find the Terminus stage ahead of Voigtmann’s afternoon extended set. Located a train-ride away from the centre of the festival, the secret stage was buried in the thick of the forest, surrounded by four speakers to create an ambient territory amongst the woodland. As Voigtmann dominated the decks with a powerful afternoon set, the crowd’s vibrant energy was only boosted when Sonja joined him for a back to back session. They belted out an insane selection of tracks, including Roman Flugel’s Lovedancing and Dark Boys’ spacey tune, The Prayer. The duo’s dynamic performance was the best set of the festival, keeping us hooked until the music came to an end.
As Ricardo and Craig Richards teamed up for a majestic, back-to-back takeover at the Pavilion, an open-air stage buried amidst the greenery, from 3am until 11.30, I first headed over to catch Nicolas Lutz’s set. Despite the early hours, the venue was packed with people eager for the night ahead.
Ricky V and Craig dominated the Pavilion, with Craig sending the crowd into a frenzy when he dropped Vincent Alvis’ Body Killin (M Dubs Remix). Meanwhile, LFO — LFO was a Ricardo highlight, before he played Ricardo Villalobos — The Contempt (Trip Through Tools Mix) as the sun came up.
To complete the end of an insane few days, I returned to the Terminus stage, where Craig and Nicolas Lutz were going back to back, before Ricky thrilled the crowds with a surprise appearance. Their epic selection of tunes and the atmosphere of the crowd felt more like a Romanian festival than a British musical experience, taking us worlds away from the English country estate we were raving in.
Houghton was a truly special weekend, something reflected in Craig Richards as he played multiple sets across the weekend, and even supported Raresh from within the crowd when he took to the Warehouse stage. The energy of all the incredible DJs, the organisation of the whole event, the array of music and to top it all off, the sunshine, made Houghton a dream come true for festival lovers.
Before we return next year to do it all over again, visit our Faceboook page for lots of wicked content from the festival.
