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Mr C announces festival he says he wants to rival Movement in Detroit

Next Step Forward Festival is aiming to become an annual event…

Mr C, the DJ and producer who used to run the much-loved London nightclub The End, has started a new mini-festival in London — and wants it to grow into an annual event to rival Movement in Detroit.

“Even though London was the birthplace of dance music culture as we know it in the late 80s, it's never had its own cutting-edge dance music festival,” Mr C told DJ Mag. 

“Over the last decade we've seen many amazing London venues close down, and although there's been new clubs open up, it's been nowhere near enough. It's a real struggle for new cutting-edge parties to get going due to the lack of venues, and we've seen cities like Berlin and Amsterdam take over as dance music leaders in Europe — but with the right effort, London can be put back on the map.” 

Mr C’s 30-hour festival Next Step Forward is taking place on September 15th and 16th across Tottenham’s The Cause and Grow venues with an afterparty event set for the recently launched FOLD. The festival will feature DJs such as Bushwacka!, Colin Dale, Danny Rampling, Jay Tripwire, Omid 16B and lots more, playing alongside Mr C himself. 

While conceding that there are plenty of festivals in or around the capital, Mr C wants more opportunities for the “cutting-edge underground” to get a look in.

“I’ve pulled together seven London collectives that I respect for the hard work they do in keeping a decent scene going in London to create something very special for the capital,” Mr C continued. “The aim is to grow each year, adding more clubs and other London collectives to really put London back on the dance music map in global terms. Not only will this be good for London nightlife but also for tourism in London in general.  

“In short, as a Londoner I'm jealous that other cities around the world can pull off club festivals that London has not. Time to change that. This can do for London what Movement did for Detroit — easily.”

Earlier this year, it was revealed that Nina Kraviz, Jon Hopkins and Amelie Lens would play Turin’s edition of Movement Festival next month.  

Revisit our 2017 interview with Mr C here. You can find more information about Next Step Forward here.