The Great Escape Festival Explained

The Great Escape
Location:Brighton and Hove, England
Years Active: years
Last:2023
Next:15–18 May 2024
Genre:Rock, alternative rock, indie rock, punk rock, hard rock, dance, techno, electronic, acoustic, hip hop

The Great Escape Festival is a four-day music festival held in Brighton and Hove, England every year in May. It is operated by MAMA Festivals and showcases new music[1] [2] from a variety of genres. The festival was founded in 2006 and roughly hosts 500 bands across 30 venues throughout the city.[3] It has been likened to South by Southwest.[4]

There is also a music industry convention section to the event, which is attended by over 4000 delegates. The 2011 to 2022 conferences have been programmed by the team from music industry publication CMU.In addition to the main festival, there is also The Alternative Escape, a further strand of 'unofficial' shows.

There was no event in 2020, and the festival was held in 2021 but was entirely online, both due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[5]

In 2024, over half of the lineup signed an open letter to the festival to drop Barclaycard as a sponsor[6] [7] due to its involvement in the supply of arms to Israeli military forces.[8] [9] Over 163 bands pulled out of the festival in protest, resulting in the opening showcase being cancelled.[10] [11]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: The Great Escape festival – review. 15 May 2011 . 13 May 2013 . Alexis . Petridis . The Guardian.
  2. News: The Great Escape, Various venues, Brighton. 15 May 2011 . 13 May 2013 . Simon . Price . The Independent.
  3. News: The Great Escape, Various Venues, Brighton. 14 May 2012 . 13 May 2013 . Fiona . Sturges . The Independent.
  4. News: Pop festival of the week: The Great Escape, various venues, Brighton. 10 May 2013 . 13 May 2013 . Kevin . Harley . The Independent.
  5. Web site: The Great Escape 2021: 10 unmissable artists to catch at the virtual new music showcase . Will . Richards . 12 May 2021 . NME.
  6. Web site: Dozens more artists join Great Escape 2024 boycott, as half the line-up demands festival drop Barclays sponsor in solidarity with Palestine . 17 April 2024 . NME.
  7. Web site: Calls to boycott The Great Escape Festival over controversial sponsorship deal . Ben . Forrest . 5 April 2024 . Far Out Magazine.
  8. Web site: Barclays: Don’t Bank on Apartheid . Palestine Campaign.
  9. Web site: ‘Thousands in UK close Barclays accounts’ over bank’s ties to Israeli military suppliers . 20 March 2024 . Arab News.
  10. News: Bakare . Lanre . 2024-05-14 . More than 100 acts quit Great Escape music festival in solidarity with Palestine . 2024-05-15 . The Guardian . en-GB . 0261-3077.
  11. News: Coady-Stemp . Emily . 2024-05-17 . Acts pull out of festival over Israel-Gaza conflict . 2024-05-20 . BBC . en-GB.

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