Fantazia was a

rave music A rave (from the verb: '' to rave'') is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance mus ...

promoter based in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. It was founded in 1991 by James Perkins, Gideon Dawson & Chris Griffin, and held a number of seminal raves at the height of the

breakbeat hardcore Breakbeat hardcore (also referred to as hardcore rave or oldskool hardcore) is a music genre of the very early 1990s that spawned from the UK rave scene. It combines four-on-the-floor rhythms with breakbeats usually sampled from hip hop. In ...

scene.

Fantazia first held a rave at Coventry's

Eclipse An eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three ce ...

nightclub, but would soon become best known for its large outdoor events. * ''Fantazia New Year Eve'' (31 December 1991 – 1 January 1992) at Westpoint Exhibition Centre, near

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

(10,000 people). * ''Second Sight'' (22 February 1992) at Westpoint Centre, Exeter (8,000 people). * ''Summertime'' (15 May 1992) at Matchams Park Stadium,

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...

(16,000 people). * ''One Step Beyond'' (25 July 1992) at

Donington Park Donington Park is a motorsport circuit located near Castle Donington in Leicestershire, England. The circuit business is now owned by Jonathan Palmer's MotorSport Vision organisation, and the surrounding Donington Park Estate, still owned b ...

(28,000 people). * ''Fantazia New Years Eve'' (31 December 1992 – 1 January 1993)) at

Littlecote House Littlecote House is a large Elizabethan country house and estate in the civil parishes of Ramsbury and Chilton Foliat, in the English county of Wiltshire, about northeast of the Berkshire town of Hungerford. The estate includes 34 hectares of hi ...

(near

Hungerford Hungerford is a historic market town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, west of Newbury, east of Marlborough, northeast of Salisbury and 60 miles (97 km) west of London. The Kennet and Avon Canal passes through the town alongside the ...

, Berks) (16,000 people). By 1993, Fantazia hosted club night tours across the UK. Its biggest event that year was ''The Big Bang'' at Glasgow's SECC Centre in November. In addition to raves, Fantazia also released a number of compilation albums, including "The First Taste" (1992), "Twice As Nice" (1993), and then moving into

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

compilations with the "House Collection" series (1994–1997). In October 1997, Fantazia returned with ''Fantazia: The Return of a Legend'', at the

G-Mex Manchester Central Convention Complex (commonly known as Manchester Central or GMEX (Greater Manchester Exhibition Centre)) is an exhibition and conference centre converted from the former Manchester Central railway station in Manchester, Engl ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. On 14 April 2019 Gideon Dawson was found dead in his Cheltenham home after suffering an overdose of cocaine and prescription drugs.

References

External links

Archived Fantazia Website
at

Wayback Machine The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by the Internet Archive, a nonprofit based in San Francisco, California. Created in 1996 and launched to the public in 2001, it allows the user to go "back in time" and see ...

Fantazia
at

Discogs.com Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the l ...

{{authority control Music festivals established in 1991 Dance companies in the United Kingdom Rave culture in the United Kingdom Electronic music festivals in the United Kingdom Electronic music event management companies Rave 1991 establishments in the United Kingdom

See also

References

External links