Common Ground Festival was originally called "The Dirty Weekend" (until 2016) and is a not-for-profit punk rock festival held in the United Kingdom every September since 2004. Profits go to various grass roots charities focusing on political activism,

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding suffering—should be afforded the sa ...

, and other causes. It is generally dominated by

anarcho-punk Anarcho-punk (also known as anarchist punk or peace punk) is ideological subgenre of punk rock that promotes anarchism. Some use the term broadly to refer to any punk music with anarchist lyrical content, which may figure in crust punk, hardcor ...

crust punk Crust punk (also known as crust or stenchcore) is a form of music influenced by English punk rock and extreme metal. The style, which evolved in the early 1980s in England, often has songs with dark and pessimistic lyrics that linger on politic ...

, and

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier punk ...

bands but also features dub,

ska punk Ska punk (also spelled ska-punk) is a fusion genre that mixes ska music and punk rock music together. (sometimes spelled skacore) is a subgenre of ska punk that mixes ska with hardcore punk. Early ska punk mixed both 2 tone and ska with hardc ...

, and

folk punk Folk punk (known in its early days as rogue folk) is a fusion of folk music and punk rock. It was popularized in the early 1980s by the Pogues in England, and by Violent Femmes in the United States. Folk punk achieved some mainstream success in ...

acts.

History

The festival emerged as The Dirty Weekend in

Rhyl Rhyl (; cy, Y Rhyl, ) is a seaside town and community (Wales), community in Denbighshire, Wales. The town lies within the Historic counties of Wales, historic boundaries of Flintshire (historic), Flintshire, on the north-east coast of Wales at ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

in 2004. Originally a one-day event, the festival soon became a 2-day festival, moving from venue to venue around

North Wales , area_land_km2 = 6,172 , postal_code_type = Postcode , postal_code = LL, CH, SY , image_map1 = Wales North Wales locator map.svg , map_caption1 = Six principal areas of Wales common ...

until managing to find a more permanent location in

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

in 2011 for three years, until the festival was cut short by an electrical fault caused a fire at the venue. Changing its name to Common Ground, it still struggled to find a suitable home and relocated every year.

2004

Having put regular gigs on in Rhyl, Dave Cox, Steve Brute and Leigh Cox (all of punk band The Cox), organised the first Dirty Weekend festival at The Morville Hotel in the town on 6 & 7 August 2004. Bands included on the line-up were Drongos For Europe, Red Flag 77, Instant Agony and Stuntface.

2005

Moving to the smaller confines of The Dudley Arms, Rhyl, the second festival was held over the weekend of 6 August 2005. The line-up included; Drongos For Europe, The Nerds and 3 Minute Warning.

2006

At The Dudley Arms, Rhyl

2007

At The Dudley Arms, Rhyl, over the weekend of 2 June 2007. Bands included

The Restarts The Restarts are an English street punk band based in London. The Restarts were formed in 1995 in London with Darragh O'Neill on drums, Kieran Plunkett from Armed and Hammered on bass guitar, and Mik Useless on the guitar. They played many ...

Riot Squad Riot control measures are used by law enforcement, military, paramilitary or security forces to control, disperse, and arrest people who are involved in a riot, unlawful demonstration or unlawful protest. If a riot is spontaneous and irrati ...

, Stuntface, 3 Minute Warning.

2008

This time over the weekend of 20 September 2008, the festival had found a new venue at Hendre Hall, near

Bangor, Gwynedd Bangor (; ) is a cathedral city and community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated ...

. The line-up included 'bigger' names on the punk scene such as Discharge, Subhumans and

Inner Terrestrials Inner Terrestrials (also referred to as iT!) are a British punk band from South London, England. Originally formed by Jay Terrestrial and Fran Webber, their first gig was in February 1994. Their music is a mix of punk, dub, ska and a touch of f ...

2012

The festival, after a four-year hiatus emerged across two venues in

on 7 & 8 September, announced proceeds would be donated to animal charities including, Greyhound Rescue Wales. Event organisers included Elliot Capper, Dave Cox, Hannah Pickup and Pumpkin Records (who also hosted one of the stages). The line-up included;

(who pulled out), Roughneck Riot, The Tear Up, Global Parasite,

Vice Squad A vice is a practice, behaviour, or habit generally considered immoral, sinful, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character trai ...

Neville Staple Neville Eugenton Staple (born 11 April 1955), sometimes credited as Neville Staples, is a Jamaican-born English singer, known for his work with the 2 Tone ska band the Specials, as well as with his own group, the Neville Staple Band. He also per ...

and

Doom Doom is another name for damnation. Doom may also refer to: People * Doom (professional wrestling), the tag team of Ron Simmons and Butch Reed * Daniel Doom (born 1934), Belgian cyclist * Debbie Doom (born 1963), American softball pitcher * ...

2013

Again held in Wrexham, The Dirty Weekend festival was cut short when a small fire fused the electric supply, preventing headliners

Extreme Noise Terror Extreme Noise Terror (often abbreviated to ENT) are a British extreme metal band formed in Ipswich, England in 1985 and one of the earliest and most influential crust bands. Noted for one of the earliest uses of dual vocalists in hardcore,Bonn ...

from finishing their set as the venue filled with smoke. Other bands on the bill that year included, Oi Polloi,

Concrete Sox Concrete Sox are a British crust punk band. They are largely seen as an early crossover thrash band who incorporated many thrash metal-like riffs in the style of their earlier recordings. History Formed in 1984 following jam sessions with Gabb ...

Citizen Fish Citizen Fish is an English punk rock band that has been active since 1990 and shares members with Subhumans. Citizen Fish does not emphasize the raw political statements and nihilistic viewpoint of the former, instead focusing on issues of ...

and Emissaries Of Syn.

2014

In 2014 a new home was found for the festival at the workhouse in

Llanfyllin Llanfyllin ( – ) is a market town, community and electoral ward in a sparsely populated area in Montgomeryshire, Powys, Wales. Llanfyllin's community population in 2011 was 1,532, of whom 34.1% could speak Welsh. Llanfyllin means ''church or p ...

, however, even before the festival occurred, local residents were up in arms due to the controversial nature of some of the bands booked to play there. The festival went ahead with no problems but under pressure from the council and local MP, the venue wasn't able to allow the festival to go on the following year.

2015

This year saw the Dirty Weekend festival move to yet another new location to the south of

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

, an area calle
Chester Lakes
that had a campsite. Larger crowds of approximately 500 people attended over the weekend of 4-5-6 September, but again had problems, this time due to noise complaints from local residents. Ahead of the event Pumpkin Records released a download compilation of bands appearing on the bill, including,

Hellbastard Hellbastard is an English crust punk/thrash metal band formed in 1984 in Newcastle. Early history Members "Scruff" Lewty, Phil Laidlaw and Ian "Scotty" Scott formed Hellbastard, which was to be a combination of Crass-like politics and the mus ...

Deviated Instinct Deviated Instinct are an English extreme metal band formed in Norwich in 1984. They are considered pioneers of both crust punk and death metal. Their first EP, ''Welcome to the Orgy'', was released by Peaceville Records, which released the maj ...

, Spam Javelin, The Mob

2016

On 26 January 2016 it was announced festival was to move south (far from its early roots in North Wales), to a location near the

Forest of Dean The Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the western part of the county of Gloucestershire, England. It forms a roughly triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and northwest, Herefordshire to the n ...

under the new name of 'Common Ground Festival'. The event managed to raise over £900 for their supported charities and took place on 2-3-4 September. The line-up included;

, Louise Distras and Cress

2017

Still moving south, this year's Common Ground festival was held at The Black Swan in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

on 1-2-3 September 2017. Bands included were; Omega Tribe, Pizzatramp, Skaciety, Warwound, and

The Stupids The Stupids are a fictional family which appear in a series of children's books written by Harry Allard and James Marshall. The Stupids draw their humor from the fact that they are incompetent to the point of confusing the most simple concep ...

. The event ran at a loss of £2302. A 37 track download compilation album "Common Ground 2017" was released on 21 August 2017 in aid of charities supported by the festival organisers. A series of benefit gigs took place during late 2017 and into 2018 to raise funds for the organisers (who were by now Matt of Pumpkin Records and Elliot Capper), and they asked for help looking for a new venue.

2018

On 16 March 2018, the Common Ground Facebook page announced there would be no festival this year being unable to locate a suitable venue.

Notable previous acts

* Oi Polloi *

Culture Shock Culture shock is an experience a person may have when one moves to a cultural environment which is different from one's own; it is also the personal disorientation a person may feel when experiencing an unfamiliar way of life due to immigration ...

Antisect Antisect are a punk rock band based in London, England. Their roots are in hardcore/ anarcho punk and metal. Formed in Daventry in 1982, their debut album, ''In Darkness There Is No Choice'', was released in 1983. 1985's follow-up EP ''Out fr ...

Radical Dance Faction Radical Dance Faction (RDF), originally Military Surplus, is an English band from Hungerford, Berkshire, England. History Radical Dance Faction (RDF) were founded by Chris Bowsher in Hungerford in 1987. Originally known as 'Military Surplus', ...

* Police Bastard *

* The Mob *

Anti-System Anti System is an English punk rock band from Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. History Formed in Bradford in 1982, the original line-up consisted of Phil, George, Dom and Dave Damned on vocals. Following their first gig at the Palm Cove in B ...

References

External links

commongroundfestival.co.uk
Official site of Common Ground Festival
pumpkinrecords.co.uk
Official site of Pumpkin Records {{rock festival Punk rock festivals Rock festivals in the United Kingdom Music festivals established in 2004