All the big changes you’ll see at Boomtown 2022

Returning to Boomtown – three years on

A behemoth rave-come-theatrical-performance hybrid, Boomtown is an experience that’s not for the faint-hearted. When I was lucky enough to attend as a reporter back in 2019, I approached this festival with an equal amount of excitement and apprehension – and did not leave disappointed. The Boomtown team now make a long-awaited return to the Matterley Estate, Hampshire.

Facing lockdown restrictions and COVID knockbacks, Boomtown 2020 (titled “Chapter 12: New Beginnings”) was cancelled to mass dismay. After a significant gap filled with plotting and planning, the festival team have made the decision to return to ground zero (or one) for this year’s instalment: “Chapter 1: The Gathering”.

With each return to the festival grounds, an ever-evolving musical city is constructed for revellers to explore, with dozens of stages and bars – but also houses, shops, banks, schools, and even a job centre. It’s inhabited by a motley bunch of residents who wouldn’t break character if you pay them, although they might pay you (in drink tokens) if you’re game enough to play along. Interested yet? Read on.

Changing stages, changing places

One very notable change is Boomtown’s choice to completely rehaul their previous festival layout, with a whole new map recently released. It’s sure to confuse regular attendees and old hands slightly, but the festival will now be condensed into a smaller area of the Matterley bowl – meaning less time spent trekking from stage to stage.

New headline stages Grand Central and Origin are replacing the former four main stages (Town Centre, Nucleus, RELIC, and Lion’s Den); promising to offer heavyweight artist appearances sure to impress – the line-up for 2019 across big stages included The Streets, Lauryn Hill, and Slaves.

A host of familiar and fresh zones can be found in the city, from Copper County to Botanica, all with smaller stages promoting up-and-coming artists. The ever-popular forest parties will also continue this year, with areas such as Tribe of Frog and Tangled Roots offering psy-trance, reggae, rhythm, dub, and everything in between. It’s impossible not to mention Boomtown’s secret venues, only accessible for those in-the-know (Dubtendo in particular promises to be a hidden delight).

A sustainable city

Previous attendees will fondly recall the three-bin recycling system, the ban on single use plastics – and perhaps less fondly look back on those compost loos. The events team are pushing for this year to be more sustainable than ever, committing to reduce fuel emissions and their carbon footprint. Even new stage Origin will be constructed from ‘real plants’ and recycled materials from previous years’ constructions.

Emily Ford, Boomtown’s Sustainability Coordinator, said: “We’re well aware that festivals do have an environmental impact and can be carbon and waste intensive, but they can also provide the best testing ground for collaboration, creativity and innovation, with lots of exciting opportunities to reduce our impact. Our aim is to not only reduce impact, but to leave the area in a better state than when we found it.”

But who can we expect to play? 

Boomtown 2019 featured a line-up of genuinely baffling proportions – over 1000 artists playing across 38 stages, spanning all name-able music genres (and even some which haven’t yet been coined).

This year, however, has already proven to be different. The festival line-up has not yet been released – and will only be posted days before the event. Despite confusing attendees, it’s for good reason:

“The complex process of releasing a music line-up with exclusivity deals, billing and escalating costs have led us to decide that this is the time to rethink the way we approach it and explore new ways of doing things.”

By avoiding bidding wars with other festival organisers, Boomtown aims to bring a wave of fresh talent to their stages – artists that “change lives”, according to festival heads Kaptin Barrett and James Cousins. 

Make sure to look out for line-up announcements in the run up to Boomtown’s gates opening on 11th August 2022.