Field Day is a yearly outdoor music festival in London. It was first held in

Victoria Park Victoria Park may refer to: Places Australia * Victoria Park Nature Reserve, a protected area in Northern Rivers region, New South Wales * Victoria Park, Adelaide, a park and racecourse * Victoria Park, Brisbane, a public park and former golf ...

in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets on 11 August 2007 and returned there each year until 2017. The 2018 festival moved to

Brockwell Park Brockwell Park is a 50.8 hectare (125.53 acres) park located south of Brixton, in Herne Hill and Tulse Hill in south London. It is bordered by the roads Brixton Water Lane, Norwood Road, Tulse Hill and Dulwich Road. The park commands views of th ...

, and in 2019 it was held at

Meridian Water Meridian Water is a £6bn, 20-year regeneration programme in Upper Edmonton, in the south-east of the London Borough of Enfield, North London. Led by the council, the project will build 10,000 homes next to the Lee Valley Regional Park. The dev ...

in Enfield, with a capacity of 25,000. It has continuously expanded, and since its inception, has sold out yearly.

Village mentality

The festival hosts an annual village fete titled Village Mentality. Beginning in 2008, the area includes a

sack race The sack race or potato sack race is a competitive game in which participants place both of their legs inside a sack or pillow case that reaches their waist or neck and hop forward from a starting point toward a finish line. The first person to ...

tug of war Tug of war (also known as tug o' war, tug war, rope war, rope pulling, or tugging war) is a sport that pits two teams against each other in a test of strength: teams pull on opposite ends of a rope, with the goal being to bring the rope a certa ...

and

egg and spoon race An egg-and-spoon race is a sporting event in which participants must balance an egg or similarly shaped item upon a spoon and race with it to the finishing line. At many primary schools an egg-and-spoon race is staged as part of the annual Sport ...

. In 2008, the events took place until 5pm, finishing earlier than the rest of the festival. In 2009, the area was extended to include its own musical line-up, playing on the Village Mentality Stage. Acts included

Mumford & Sons Mumford & Sons is a British folk rock band formed in London in 2007. The band currently consists of Marcus Mumford (lead vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, drums), Ted Dwane (vocals, bass guitar, double bass), and Ben Lovett (vocals, k ...

Toumani Diabaté Toumani Diabaté ( ; born 10 August 1965) is a Malian kora player. In addition to performing the traditional music of Mali, he has also been involved in cross-cultural collaborations with flamenco, blues, jazz, and other international styles. ...

and

Malcolm Middleton Malcolm Bruce Middleton (born 31 December 1973) is a Scottish musician and member of indie band Arab Strap. He has also released seven solo studio albums and three albums performing under the pseudonym Human Don't Be Angry. Early life Middle ...

. The area is handled by organiser Tom Baker's partner Natalie Silk. Village Mentality was formerly known as Homefires, who hosted their own London festival until 2007.

Field Day radio

Field Day and Eat Your Own Ears founder Tom Baker, together with radio production company Folded Wing, recorded a series of radio shows in the run up to Field Day festival in 2012. It features sessions and interviews with the performing artists and has been a regular feature of the festival since. Episodes include exclusives interviews and mixes from the likes of

Pixies A pixie (also pisky, pixy, pixi, pizkie, and piskie in Cornwall and Devon, and pigsie or puggsy in the New Forest) is a mythical creature of British folklore. Pixies are considered to be particularly concentrated in the high moorland areas aro ...

Grimes Claire Elise Boucher (; born March 17, 1988), known professionally as Grimes, is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Her early work has been described as extending from "lo-fi R&B" to futuristic dance-pop, and has i ...

Solange Solange (died 10 May, c. 880) was a Frankish shepherdess and a locally venerated Christian saint and cephalophore, whose cult is restricted to Sainte-Solange, Cher. Saint Solange was the patron of the traditional Province of Berry, of which C ...

, Mulatu Astatke,

Panda Bear The giant panda (''Ailuropoda melanoleuca''), also known as the panda bear (or simply the panda), is a bear species endemic to China. It is characterised by its bold black-and-white coat and rotund body. The name "giant panda" is sometimes ...

, Caribou, Omar Souleyman,

Metronomy Metronomy are an English electronic music group formed in 1999. As of 2021, the band consists of Joseph Mount (vocals, keyboards and guitar), Oscar Cash (keyboards, backing vocals, guitar and saxophone), Anna Prior (drums and vocals), Olugbeng ...

John Cooper Clarke John Cooper Clarke (born 25 January 1949) is an English performance poet, who first became famous as a " punk poet" in the late 1970s. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, he released several albums. Around this time, he performed on stage with se ...

Four Tet Kieran Hebden (born September 1977), known as Four Tet, is an English electronic musician. He came to prominence as a member of the post-rock band Fridge before establishing himself as a solo artist with charting UK albums such as '' Rounds'' ...

Kurt Vile Kurt Samuel Vile (born January 3, 1980) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He is known for his solo work and as the former lead guitarist of rock band the War on Drugs. Both in the studio and during li ...

and many more.

Lineups

2007 festival

The inaugural Field Day festival took place on 11 August 2007, with the first

Underage Festival The Underage Festival was a music festival in Victoria Park, London that was open only to those between 13 and 17. The festival took place at the beginning of August each year. There were five main stages: the Converse Century Main Stage, the ...

taking place the same weekend. Over fifty artists featured across four stages, as well as a musical

bandstand A bandstand (sometimes music kiosk) is a circular, semicircular or polygonal structure set in a park, garden, pier, or indoor space, designed to accommodate musical bands performing concerts. A simple construction, it both creates an orname ...

. Artists included the 1990s, Absentee, Adem, Alberta Cross,

Andrew Weatherall Andrew James Weatherall (6 April 1963 – 17 February 2020) was an English musician, DJ, songwriter, producer and remixer. His career took him from being one of the key DJs in the acid house movement of the late 1980s to being a remixer of trac ...

Archie Bronson Outfit Archie Bronson Outfit are an English rock band. They met at Kingswood School, Bath. After leaving their native Somerset, the band moved to London where they were discovered by Laurence Bell, boss of Domino Records. The band were playing i ...

Bat for Lashes Natasha Khan (born 25 October 1979), known professionally as Bat for Lashes, is an English singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. She has released five studio albums: '' Fur and Gold'' (2006), ''Two Suns'' (2009), '' The Hau ...

Battles A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

, Caribou, Casper C, The Cock N Bull Kid, Crispin Dior, El Plate,

Electrelane Electrelane were an English indie rock band, formed in Brighton in 1998 by Verity Susman and Emma Gaze. The band comprised Susman, Gaze, Mia Clarke, and Ros Murray. Their music drew from a wide range of influences including Neu!, Stereolab, So ...

Erol Alkan Erol Alkan (born 30 May 1974) is an English DJ and producer of Turkish Cypriot descent. He grew up in Archway in North London. Career DJ and club promoter In 1993, Erol Alkan started DJing in various indie nightclubs in London. His fir ...

Euros Childs Euros Childs (; Welsh: ; born 16 April 1975) is a Welsh musician and songwriter, perhaps best known as the frontman for the band Gorky's Zygotic Mynci and—as of January 2019—the keyboardist for Teenage Fanclub. His sister, violinist Megan C ...

, Fanfarlo, Filthy Dukes, Florence and the Machine, Foals,

Fridge A refrigerator, colloquially fridge, is a commercial and home appliance consisting of a thermally insulated compartment and a heat pump (mechanical, electronic or chemical) that transfers heat from its inside to its external environment so th ...

GoodBooks GoodBooks were an English indie rock band from Sevenoaks in Kent. They first received media attention upon releasing their self-published EP ''Valves and Robots'' in June 2005. The band signed to Transgressive Records in late 2005 for one singl ...

Gruff Rhys Gruffudd Maredudd Bowen Rhys (; born 18 July 1970) is a Welsh musician, composer, producer, filmmaker and author. He performs solo and with several bands, including Super Furry Animals, which obtained mainstream success in the 1990s. He formed ...

, Hannah Holland,

James Yorkston James Yorkston (born James Patrick Yorkston Wright; 21 December 1971) is a Scottish folk musician, singer-songwriter and author from the village of Kingsbarns, Fife. He has been releasing music since 2001. As well as recording as a solo artist ...

, Jo Jo de Freq,

Justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

Kid Harpoon Thomas Edward Percy Hull (born 20 April 1982), known professionally as Kid Harpoon, is an English singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. Career Already a fixture at local venues in his hometown of Chatham, Kid Harpoon first emerg ...

, Late of the Pier,

Laura Marling Laura Beatrice Marling (born 1 February 1990) is a British folk singer-songwriter. She won the Brit Award for Best British Female Solo Artist at the 2011 Brit Awards and was nominated for the same award at the 2012, 2014, 2016, and 2018 Brit Aw ...

, Liars, Matt Walsh,

Matthew Dear Matthew Dear (born April 4, 1979) is an American electronic music producer and DJ. History Texas-born Dear moved to Michigan as a teenager, where he was inspired by the sound of Detroit Techno. Dear met Sam Valenti IV at a party while attendin ...

, Miss Odd Kidd, Mystery Jets, Nadia Ksaiba, Patchwork Pirates, The Pictish Trail,

Pull Tiger Tail Pull Tiger Tail (often abbreviated to PTT) were an indie rock band based in London and originating from Stratford-upon-Avon and Edinburgh; they formed in 2006 while attending Goldsmiths College. All three members had grown up together in Strat ...

, Skull Juice, The Aliens,

The Concretes The Concretes are a Swedish indie pop band from Stockholm, composed of eight members. History The Concretes began with Victoria Bergsman, Maria Eriksson, and Lisa Milberg. Since their formation in 1995, they have grown into an eight piece band. ...

The Earlies The Earlies are a band formed by Christian Madden and Giles Hatton from Lancashire, England, and Brandon Carr and John Mark Lapham from the United States. They are notable for blending elements from a wide range of musical genres and have been ...

, The Lovely Jonjo,

Vetiver ''Chrysopogon zizanioides'', commonly known as vetiver and khus, is a perennial bunchgrass of the family Poaceae. Vetiver is most closely related to '' Sorghum'' but shares many morphological characteristics with other fragrant grasses, such a ...

, Warboy, White Rabbits, Young Turks and Zombie Disco Squad. Originally being billed as a capacity of 6,000, the amount was increased to 10,000 shortly before the festival.

2008 festival

The 2008 event took place on 9 August 2008, with the Underage Festival taking place the previous day. The entire site was redesigned by Vanguardia Consulting, who provide specialist advice on sound control. Capacity was increased to 20,000, and bars and toilets across the site were doubled. More than fifty artists were again billed for the festival, including

Simian Mobile Disco Simian Mobile Disco are an English electronic music duo and production team, formed in 2003 by James Ford and Jas Shaw of the band Simian. Musically, they are known for their analogue production. Ford is also known for his production work. ...

Les Savy Fav Les Savy Fav ( ) is an American indie rock band based in New York City. Their style is influenced by art punk and post-hardcore. The group is known for the stage presence of lead singer Tim Harrington. The band is signed to Frenchkiss Record ...

, Mystery Jets and

. The event was headlined by Foals, in what was their first UK headline festival performance. A 25-member brass band was also added as a final addition to the line-up. The event now featured five stages, an increase from the previous year. The main stage was retitled the "

Converse Converse may refer to: Mathematics and logic * Converse (logic), the result of reversing the two parts of a definite or implicational statement ** Converse implication, the converse of a material implication ** Converse nonimplication, a logical c ...

Century Stage", to reflect the company's 100-year anniversary in 2008. A similar stage was used at Underage Festival the previous day. *Dan Deacon had been due to play on the ''NME'' stage, but was later forced to pull out due to passport issues. Mystery Jets also pulled out due to illness. They were later replaced by Lightspeed Champion.

2009 festival

The 2009 festival took place on 1 August 2009, one day prior to Underage. The first line-up announcements were made on 28 January 2009, when ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' announced that

Mogwai Mogwai () are a Scottish post-rock band, formed in 1995 in Glasgow. The band consists of Stuart Braithwaite (guitar, vocals), Barry Burns (guitar, piano, synthesizer, vocals), Dominic Aitchison (bass guitar), and Martin Bulloch (drums). Mog ...

would headline the event.

, Apes and Androids,

Fennesz Christian Fennesz (born 25 December 1962) is an Austrian producer and guitarist active in electronic music since the 1990s, often credited simply by his last name. His work utilizes guitar and laptop computers to blend melody with treated sample ...

, Errors and

Skream Oliver Dene Jones (born 1 June 1986), known as Skream, is an English electronic music producer based in Croydon. Skream was an early and influential exponent of the dubstep genre. After producing several singles, he released his first full-len ...

were also announced. Further line-up additions were announced on 7 April 2009, including

The Horrors The Horrors are an English rock band formed in Southend-on-Sea in 2005, consisting of lead vocalist Faris Badwan, guitarist Joshua Hayward, keyboardist and synthesizer player Tom Furse, bassist Rhys Webb, and drummer and percussionist Joe Spu ...

Little Boots Victoria Christina Hesketh (born 4 May 1984), better known by her stage name Little Boots, is an English electropop singer-songwriter and DJ. She was previously a member of the band Dead Disco. Since performing as a solo artist she has releas ...

Santigold Santi White (born September 25, 1976), known professionally as Santigold (formerly Santogold), is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. '' Billboard'' presented her in 2022, saying: "Spanning punk rock, hip-hop, and dance music, S ...

and Mystery Jets. Other line-up announcements have been sporadically announced through the festival's

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

account.

2010 Festival

The 2010 event was confirmed to take place on 31 July 2010, in their fourth annual outing in Victoria Park. On 9 February 2010, it was announced that

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

would headline the event, with

Amiina Amiina (formerly Amína, stylized in lowercase) is an Icelandic band composed of members Maria Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir, and Sólrún Sumarliðadóttir, Magnús Trygvason Eliassen and Guðmundur Vignir Karlsson. In the past they have frequent ...

, Beth Jeans Houghton, Caribou, Esben and the Witch, Chilly Gonzalez,

Corsano Corsano is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Lecce in the Apulia region of south-east Italy. Geography It is located on the last slopes of the Salentine Murge, facing the Adriatic Sea coast. The distance from Lecce is . History Corsano ...

and

Flowers A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism ...

, Gold Panda, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, James Holden, Joker & MC Nomad,

Max Tundra Ben Jacobs (born 7 June 1974), more commonly known by the stage name Max Tundra, is an English multi-instrumental musician, singer and music producer. His work is noted for its maximalist approach, which is predominantly electronic music but inc ...

Memory Tapes Dayve Hawk (born 1981), better known by his stage name Memory Tapes, is an American singer-songwriter and record producer, and the former frontman of the Philadelphia-based band, Hail Social. Career After releasing material under the names "Mem ...

, Mouse on Mars, Pantha Du Prince and

Silver Apples Silver Apples were an American electronic rock group from New York, active between 1967 and 1970, before reforming in the mid-1990s. It was composed of Simeon (born Simeon Oliver Coxe III, June 4, 1938 – September 8, 2020), who performed ...

also announced to perform. Further acts were announced on 12 March 2010, when Babeshadow, Carte Blanche (

DJ Mehdi Mehdi Favéris-Essadi (20 January 1977 – 13 September 2011), better known by his stage name DJ Mehdi, was a French hip hop and house music producer and DJ. He was signed to the label Ed Banger Records, founded by his friend Pedro Winter, in ...

& Riton), Chapel Club,

Hudson Mohawke Ross Matthew Birchard (born 11 February 1986), better known by the stage name Hudson Mohawke, is a Scottish-American producer, composer, and DJ from Glasgow. He is known for his influential work in 21st century hip-hop and electronic music. A ...

, Lightspeed Champion,

No Age No Age is an American noise rock duo consisting of guitarist Randy Randall and drummer/vocalist Dean Allen Spunt. The band is based in Los Angeles, California, and was signed to Sub Pop records from 2008 to 2013. No Age's fourth studio album, '' ...

, Tamikrest, The Fall, These New Puritans and YucK were added. The festival is set to expand further to six stages, including the Outdoor live stage, Adventures in the Beetroot Field arena, Homefires stage, Bugged Out! arena, Bloggers Delight stage, and the musical

. For the first time in 2010, Field Day is to take part in a festival 'twinning' scheme, organised by the Association of Independent Festivals (AIF). The initiative encourages twinned festivals to swap artists and cross promote each other's events. Field Day was 'twinned' with the

Øya Festival Øya is a neighborhood in the city of Trondheim in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is situated the borough of Midtbyen, just east of Elgeseter. The neighborhood consists of a peninsula formed by the river Nidelva. The community is located close t ...

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

2011 Festival

The 2011 event took place on 6 August 2011. The next day, a companion festival took place, with the same organisers and similar stages at the location, under the name The Apple Cart festival.

2012 Festival

The 2012 festival date moved from the traditional August month to Saturday 2 June 2012 (bank holiday weekend). This was due to Victoria Park being used for events to celebrate the London Olympics. The Apple Cart festival took place again on the next-day Sunday.

2013 Festival

Following on from 2012's change in date, Field Day 2013 took place on Saturday 25 May (bank holiday weekend).

2014 Festival

In 2014, Field Day expanded to a two-day event. It took place on the weekend of 7–8 June 2014, headlined by

and

. Appearing were:

2015 Festival

The 2015 festival took place on the weekend of 6–7 June 2015, and was headlined by Caribou,

Ride Ride may refer to: People * MC Ride, a member of Death Grips * Sally Ride (1951–2012), American astronaut * William Ride (19262011), Australian zoologist Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Ride'' (1998 film), a 1998 comedy by Millicen ...

and

Patti Smith Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter and author who became an influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album ''Horses''. Called the "punk poet ...

2016 Festival

2016 was the 10th anniversary edition of Field Day. It took place on Saturday 11th and Sunday 12 June 2016. The line up was:

2017 Festival

The festival was reduced to one day and was on Saturday 3 June. This was the last year in Victoria Park.

2018 Festival

The 2018 festival moved to Brockwell Park in Herne Hill and took place on 1 and 2 June. The headliners were

Erykah Badu Erica Abi Wright (born February 26, 1971), known professionally as Erykah Badu (), is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. Influenced by R&B, soul, and hip hop, Badu rose to prominence in the late 1990s when her debut al ...

, Thundercat and Fever Ray.

2019 Festival

The 2019 festival was at

in Enfield on 7 and 8 June. The headliners were Skepta and

Jorja Smith Jorja Alice Smith (born 11 June 1997) is an English singer-songwriter. Born and raised in Walsall, West Midlands, she has been writing songs since the age of 11. In 2012, Smith's friend uploaded her cover of Labrinth's "Earthquake" to YouTube, ...

. There was a new system in place for the festival; a Day part and a Late Night part; the Day part of the festival finished around 10.30 pm and the Late Night part of the festival finished around 3 am. The line up was: Friday 7 June Saturday 8 June

References

External links

*
Field Day official website

The Line of Best Fit - 2012 festival photo gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Field Day (Festival) Alternative rock festivals Music festivals in London Tourist attractions in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets