5+5 Festival Q&A: Larmer Tree Festival

20 years of Larmer Tree Festival, how has life changed over that time? Is it easier now than it was?
Life has changed for everyone in the last 20 years and we’ve not been immune. The pace of life now feels like a sprint whereas, particularly in Dorset 20 years ago, the pace felt like a very slow stroll. I always foolishly think at the start of each year that this year's Larmer Tree is going to be easier. However every year we introduce new elements to the festival to keep it fresh for the audience and also ourselves – so there are always new challenges to face, but we wouldn’t have it any other way. So does it get easier? In a word, no!

How do you cope with other festivals on the site? Do you see them as a threat or do you hope that people go and love the place so much they come to yours as well?
I really admire what End of the Road have done in the last few years and I really don't see them as a threat – although there is some crossover in the bands we both book, our audiences are quite different. We also love being able to go to and enjoy a festival on ‘our site’ that we don’t have to organise!

Larmer Tree is such an inspiring site, how important is it that the venue compliments the vibe and audience of the festival?
General Pitt-Rivers, who built the gardens in the 1880s used to hold an annual party that ran for the whole of August - so I have always been inspired by that idea (although a Larmer Tree that lasted a whole month would probably kill me!).

You have a wonderfully diverse line-up, what inspiration goes into choosing the bands?
There are many considerations that go into booking any band - first we have to love them… then other considerations are, availability, financial, how they fit with the rest of the line-up etc, so each year we sit down and write our 'dream team' line-up, which to be fair is always a dream. Then we spend the next six months trying our damnedest to get as many of that 'dream team' to agree to playing Larmer Tree Festival!

How do you cope being a sponsorship free festival? Where does the breaking point between high running costs and giving in to sponsors come?
This is an subject I have always had strong feelings about. It may sound strange but I feel it's easier to run an event without the 'corporate dollar' as you always know exactly where you are - if you don't sell the tickets you're down the pan! When Julia [Safe], my Co Director, who has been running the festival with me for the last 18 years, and I started working together, we vowed that Larmer Tree Festival would always be a 'sponsor-free' festival. This allows us to do whatever we want. We always remember the old adage 'there is no such thing as a free meal’. We have managed to achieve our original aim by growing the festival very gradually year-on-year. We have never overstretched ourselves financially and retained some of the surplus to cover any losses that we could incur (thankfully this has never happened).

Why did you start the festival?
As well as doing a ‘proper job’ in the ‘70s, I also did a bit of drumming and band managing, and when I went to the Bracknell Jazz Festival set in the beautiful grounds of South Hill Park, I was inspired to find a similar venue to put on my own event. I was out jogging in the winter of '89/'90 when I stumbled on the, then disused, Larmer Tree Gardens… the rest as they say is history!

Having a site in rural areas must cost a lot in getting infrastructure to the site, how do you limit the festival's environmental impact?
We have always tried to source as much infrastructure and labour locally - we are lucky to have some excellent local suppliers who we have worked very closely with for many years. We also have an excellent local friend who organises the waste recycling and he and his team work tirelessly to limit the amount of landfill that the festival generates.

What's your favourite memory from the festival?
There are many, many great memories (and also a few I would prefer to forget!). I always get an immense thrill out of hearing the first band strike up each year and the thought always comes into my head “ah, that's why I do it!” I then go and have a drink with the whole set-up crew - it is now a firm tradition, and I love it!

Financially, running a festival is tough. How do you manage rising costs without making ticket prices too high? What do you see as the top price a festival ticket will reach?
As I said earlier we have always run a very tight ship and never overstretched ourselves financially. Each year we set the ticket price at what we consider a fair level and then make the festival fit the estimated box office revenue. We also have long standing relationships with many of our contractors and suppliers - we negotiate hard and pay on time! There is no way of predicting what the cost of a festival ticket will be in the future. I gave up predicting anything after Foinavon won the Grand National in 1967 at odds of 150/1!!

Where do you see the festival being in the years to come? Will you grow? Will you move?
I think Larmer Tree Festival has already become a bit of a tradition for many people and I would like to see that Larmer Tree tradition grow. There are already 19 year olds coming to the Larmer Tree who have been attending for the whole of their lives. As far as they are probably aware there has always been a Larmer Tree Festival - I really like that idea! The only growth I see taking place is the scope of what we actually programme - we have gradually added more and of the arts to the line-up and I hope that continues in the future. Moving the festival is not something that will ever happen - we couldn't hold the Larmer Tree Festival anywhere apart from our spiritual home at the Larmer Tree Gardens!

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