Fantazia co-founder, Gideon Dawson, death ruled as drug related
The promoter is often credited with helping 'invent' the dance music mix CD
An inquest has ruled the death of Fantazia co-founder Gideon Dawson as drug related.
The rave promoter is thought to have succumbed to health complications stemming from a 'cocktail of drugs', including morphine which he was prescribed after breaking a number of ribs.
He was found dead in his Cheltenham, UK home on 14th April 2019, aged 51.
Dawson leaves behind a huge dance music legacy, having co-founded the Fantazia raves, the biggest of which saw an estimated 30,000 revellers descend on Castle Donnington in 1992, not to be confused with DiY Soundsystem and the infamous Castlemorton rave of the same year
He is also credited with helping 'invent' the dance music CD, with the events giving rise to a mix series that saw contributions from the likes of Tony de Vit, John Kelly, Judge Jules and Seb Fontaine.
"His partner said that he had drunk half a bottle of vodka and snorted half a gram of cocaine beforehand and she later found him lying half on the sofa and half on the floor in the living room, blue and not breathing," Assistant Gloucestershire Coroner Roland Wooderson said.
"He was the man behind the very beginning of the dance scene," Dawson's sister, Heidi, said after the hearing. "He even went on to star in an episode of Inspector Morse — he and the rest of the Fantazia dancegoers were in an episode about the rave scene," she continued.
"Gideon was a very loved person. He had a compassionate nature and was very entertaining. He was a legend within dance music."
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