Big Chill - Katrina Larkin & Pete Lawrence

United Kingdom | by Ross Purdie | 03 February 2005

VF: The Big Chill is now in its tenth year. Did you ever imagine it would go on that long when you started out?
PL: Not really because we never wanted to be promoters. The whole thing started out as a way of putting on events for our friends, starting with gigs at the Union Chapel in London. It basically involved just plundering our address books and getting people along. When we took it outdoors the idea was that The Big Chill would be more of a holiday than a festival, because we struck on the concept while on holiday ourselves, camping in the Black Mountains.
KL: We were totally blown away by the beauty of it all and thought, we've got to come back here and bring some friends. So we did, putting on our first festival in 1995.
PL: It was right at the time of the Criminal Justice Bill and we didn't have a license for a commercial venture, but had about 700 people coming down. The police kept popping back all weekend saying it was the best event going on in the area. Apparently there were loads of problems in a nearby town that was putting on a festival so we were in their good books in comparison.

VF: So has it always been that easy?
KL: No, the next year was a disaster! We moved The Big Chill to Norfolk, but unfortunately the locals didn't take to it very well. A local farmer threatened to put pigs swill all around the site so that no one could get in. We managed to secure another site quickly but then we had pretty much the worst weather ever seen over one weekend! It was a wash out, a total disaster! We almost gave up after that because we lost so much money, but then the most amazing thing happened; a load of the artists who were scheduled to play that weekend organised a benefit gig in Brixton Academy to basically save The Big Chill. After that we realised we couldn't give up so on we went, putting on other festivals in Larmer Tree, Lulworth Castle in Dorest, and now from our current site, Eastnor Castle in Malvern.
KL: It's never easy. Getting into the festival scene is not to be taken lightly. We're really into it and we love encouraging people to start festivals if their passionate about it. But we're probably the most relaxed we've ever been about it in the entire 10 years, because we've been through upheaval, illness, and exhaustion to get to this point. So we always say to people who fancy putting on their own festival, 'listen, this is going to change your life'.

VF: What's so special about the Big Chill?
PL: It's unique because it started with our friends. Over the decade it's been like a tree growing out, with a soul and root unlike most festivals. It's all been very organic and has kept its integrity.
KL: There are so many different ways to enjoy the Big Chill and a lot of people actually say that they've been invigorated after the weekend, rather than totally worn out. People bring their parents and their kids.

VF: You mentioned it's grown. Do you ever worry too much?
PL: We try to judge each year as we go. The biggest increase was probably between 2003 and last year, increasing from 17,500 to 27,000. This year it'll be around 30,000. We see Eastnor Castle as being our home for the next few years as we're really happy with it, but you can only weigh these things up as you grow. We don't ever want to cram people in. Also, the atmosphere is key. There are so many events where you're herded around and forced to eat bad food. We're the backlash to that!
KL: Last year was actually one of the best I think. We used a bit more land and had a lot more people, but the increased numbers seemed to work even better than the last few years. There was a real buzz on site and the program musically was great.