BEST FESTIVAL: GLOBALGATHERING
The festival grew bigger than ever in 2013, with acts appearing from across the whole dance spectrum...
Longevity isn’t easy to come by in dance music, but the 13th edition of GlobalGathering UK has seen it deservedly reclaim the crown of BoB Best Festival.
“It’s one of the most exciting years that GlobalGathering’s had to date actually,” says Gary Turner, Managing Director of GlobalGathering Group. “We had our best numbers ever but we also feel we produced the best show we’ve done. We had more acts and arenas than we’ve ever had before.”
Gary believes one key factor behind the success of GlobalGathering 2013 was the overhaul of the different arenas, including the introduction of the Global Freight Depot, hidden arena The Bunker and the Godskitchen Fusion Cube.
“Introducing lots of new production areas to the site really made the festival the best one that we’ve done,” he says. “I had a vision of creating a more exciting festival for the fans. Not just the best music but also the best environment that they can experience the music in. Standing right in front of the Fusion Cube and watching the crowd go off was an absolutely amazing experience for me.”
Add to this the impeccably curated bill of both established names and up-and-coming DJs and artists that covers dance music of all flavours (2013 saw Jamie Jones, Hardwell, Rudimental, Andy C and Disclosure among the headliners) and it’s little wonder GlobalGathering has regained the award.
“I think for us this is the one award that all dance festivals want to win because it’s voted for by the dance fans, and the DJ Mag fans — they’re the best that there are,” beams Gary. “For us to win this award voted for by those fans is absolutely fantastic and we just want to thank everyone that voted for us.”
Looking ahead, further production ideas and concepts are set to be introduced for the 2014 and 2015 UK weekenders at Long Marston Airfield, while GlobalGathering will also continue to live up to its name by adding further international events to its schedule.
“GlobalGathering was the first dance festival to be a truly global brand,” says Gary. “We’ve been international for eight, nine years. Other people are now following us but we were the trendsetter and we’re keeping that going.”
It seems GlobalGathering’s longevity is assured for many years yet.
