Boomtown (festival)
Immersive music festival near Winchester, England
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Boomtown (also known as Boomtown Fair) is a five-day theatre and music festival held annually on the Matterley Estate in South Downs National Park, near Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was first held in 2009 and has been held at its current site since 2011. The event runs in the second week of August each year, and features a diverse lineup of live bands, electronic music DJs, speakers, and other performers across a wide range of genres.
| Boomtown Fair | |
|---|---|
| |
 The Lion's Den stage at night during Boomtown Chapter 11 (2019) | |
| Genre | Music and theatre production |
| Frequency | Annually |
| Locations | Matterley Estate, Alresford Road, near Winchester, Hampshire, England. |
| Coordinates | 51°03′05″N 01°14′44″W |
| Years active | 16 years |
| Inaugurated | 7 August 2009 |
| Founders |
|
Most recent | 6 August 2025 – 10 August 2025 |
Next event | 12 August 2026 – 16 August 2026 |
| Capacity | 76,999 (2025) |
| Organised by | Boomtown Festival UK Ltd. |
| Website | www |
Boomtown takes place on 1,250 acres of farmland, and consists of 8 districts of a fictional city, alongside camping, workshop, and activist areas. Each district has a distinct identity and is constructed with life-sized street sets, housing more than 50 hidden venues run by independent collectives and record labels, with some resembling typical amenities including a post office, hotel, and police station. The 12 large main stages are run by Boomtown, and several stages are situated within woodland, with permanent wooden staging, bars, and walkway structures. The large scale of the build and its infrastructure requires six weeks of construction, and a month of disassembly.[1]
In addition to music, each edition of the festival features heavy immersive theatre elements, expanding on an overarching narrative through a large alternate reality game, and serving as social commentary. Attendees can interact with actors portraying citizens of the fictional city and obtain copies of the festival’s in-universe newspaper, The Daily Rag, which is published throughout the event. The storyline climaxes in the festival’s closing ceremony on Sunday night. Previous years have included themes of artificial intelligence, media manipulation, political corruption, and the environment.
History
2009-2016: Boomtown Begins
Boomtown Fair was created when Rutherford and Mitchell, who had grown up in the festival and free party scenes,[2][3] decided that music festivals lacked atmosphere, and that many genres were being overlooked.[4] The first chapter, Boomtown Begins, took place from 7-9 August 2009 and was held at the Speech House Hotel in Coleford, Gloucestershire. It was a successor to their first festival held the previous year Recydrate The West, which was predominately a ska and cider festival.[5]
.jpg)
In its second year, the festival moved to the Stowe Landscape Gardens in Buckingham, Buckinghamshire, before finally relocating in 2011 to the Matterley Estate in Winchester, where it has remained ever since.
Between 2012 and 2014, the Arcadia Spider featured as a main dance stage, before being replaced by the custom Banghai Palace in 2015.[6] In 2015, the Lion's Den stage was moved to a large natural amphitheatre bowl to accommodate the largest crowds of any stage at the festival.[7] The 2016 fair saw further expansion with Sector 6 across from Lion's Den in Temple Valley, introduced to even the spread of bass-heavy music across the site.[3]
2017-2019: A Major Festival
In 2018, organisers applied to increase the capacity of the festival to 80,000 but the application was rejected after concerns from locals around strain on the transport system.[8] Instead, they were granted an increase to 60,000, and allowed to open a day early, providing attendees used sustainable transport methods - coaches, shuttle bus, or cars with more than three people.[8] The same year, the festival saw its first major headliner, Gorillaz in a UK-exclusive show.[5]
The 2019 fair introduced the new Area 404 district in place of Sector 6 providing a dedicated zone for techno and acid house music. The event was focused around the "Leave No Trace" mantra. Encouraging attendees to take their rubbish and camping equipment with them as they leave, and banning single-use plastics from all on-site merchants. As a result of this push, the festival saw a 50% reduction in tents and equipment left behind by attendees.[9]
COVID-19 Pandemic
The 2020 event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[10] The following year, after an announcement from Prime Minister Boris Johnson on 25 February 2021 announcing the roadmap for the removal of restrictions in England, public confidence in the 2021 festival season increased.[11] Following this news, many festivals in the UK saw a huge increase in ticket sales, with the organizers of the Reading and Leeds festivals stating they were 'very confident' the summer's events would go ahead.[12][13] By Thursday 25 February, all remaining Boomtown tickets had sold out; 48,000 in total.[14][15]
However, on 20 April 2021, Boomtown announced its cancellation for the second year in a row. Organisers cited the lack of a government insurance scheme to cover COVID-19-related risks for music festivals, stating that "for an independent event as large and complex as Boomtown, this means a huge gamble into an eight-figure sum to lose if we were to venture much further forward, and then not be able to go ahead due to COVID."[16] The organisers planned to hold a smaller event known as Boom Village, but was cancelled due to safety concerns over rising numbers of new COVID-19 cases.[17]
As a result of cancellations from the COVID-19 pandemic, the festival corporation's total equity had dropped from more than £2.1 million in October 2019 to just £151,879 in October 2021.[18]
2022-present: Recovery and re-expansion
The festival returned in 2022 with a vastly condensed layout, a decreased number of districts (14 to 8) and main stages (25 to 12). The majority of entertainment was moved into the bowl, with the campsites onto the flat land surrounding. Two new flagship main stages were introduced, Origin as the main dance stage, and Grand Central as the main live music stage, with the previously-largest-main-stages not returning.[19] The chapter numbering scheme was also reset, with the event subtitled Chapter One: The Gathering.
The festival also adopted a new lineup policy whereby most performers were announced only days before the event, this coincided with a drop of typical headliner bookings. On 17 August 2022, Boomtown co-founders Luke Mitchell and Christopher Rutherford released a statement confirming that the festival, previously the largest wholly independent in the UK, had sold a 45% stake (including 18% to Live Nation UK) citing increasing financial pressure in the wake of the pandemic.[20]
On 29 June 2023, for the 15th anniversary of the festival, Boomtown announced The Prodigy would be headlining the fair on Sunday, the first headline announcement since the change in policy.[21] However, the Friday during the festival, the band cancelled all upcoming performances after vocalist Maxim suffered a back injury.[22] The Prodigy was replaced by Chase and Status.[23]
On 6 December 2024, Boomtown launched the 2025 event with a return to advance lineup announcements, including a first-wave of artists, and announcing the first re-expansion outside of the bowl.[24] Old Town moving to Hilltop, and the introduction of two new main dance stages: The Lions Gate (replacing Origin), and a new fully-hydrogen powered stage Hydro for techno and house music, a first for a major UK festival.[25] The event also included the reintroduction of a single wellness and spiritual healing area Thrutopia, with speakers, traders, and workshops, and a large communal fire pit.[26]
In June 2025, the festival was granted approval from the South Downs National Park Authority to expand capacity from 65,999 to 76,999, bringing capacity in line with their existing license from Winchester City Council.[27] The plans included a planned reduction in crew from 17,999 to 12,999, citing efficiencies, and an increase in ticket-holders by 15,000.
On 1 October 2025, Boomtown launched Chapter 5: Radical Redesign, including a return to a larger site layout after four years largely condensed within the bowl. Key changes included the reintroduction of the Lion's Den stage, the introduction of a scaled-up Hydro XL in the bowl, and the relocation of Grand Central to Hilltop. The festival also announced a shift in programming, moving away from a recent emphasis on bass-heavy genres towards a more diverse lineup, and a greater number of live bands.[28]
Layout
The 1,250 acre greenfield festival site is split into a few main areas:[29]
- the Downtown area contained within Cheesefoot Head;
- the Temple Valley valley which splits the site diagonally;
- and the Hilltop area which extends across the crest of the hill that is the mid-ground between these two areas – it is also the geographical centre of the site.
The main entertainment is contained within the Downtown and Hilltop areas with attendees taking either Hippie Highway (a large, steep hill) or The Stairs (a temporary staircase structure) to travel between the two.
Each of the 8 districts has a distinct identity, with unique set design and music genres on show. Each district has at least one main stage, alongside small and medium size venues integrated into the street sets.[30] The festival contains 12 main stages and 50 additional hidden venues.[31]
The largest main stages (Lion's Den, Hydro XL, and Grand Central) differ from the others as they are designed to accommodate crowds in the tens of thousands, with vast stage sets at the centre with bars, toilets, and accessible viewing platforms around the area.
A number of stages feature within the natural features of the sites. The 'forest party' stages are set within the woods under tree canopies, with sand flooring and large permanent wooden structures. The Lions Den stage is also set within a large natural amphitheatre.
Almost all of the site accessible to the public that is not part of the entertainment area is used for camping, with no barriers or further security between camping areas and stages.
The two main entrances are on the far east and west sides of the site for those travelling by car and public transport respectively. On the south side of the site is the entrance for camper vans along with the camper van field. The north side and north-east corner of the site is primarily out of bounds staff and crew areas.
Location
The festival takes place in South East England on the Matterley Estate in Hampshire on the grounds of the South Downs National Park, 3 miles from Winchester. The grounds are situated between the A31 and A272,[32] at grid reference SU 52919 28297.
The grounds have been the home of a number of music festivals and concerts over the years, including Creamfields in its inaugural year of 1998, Homelands from 1999 till 2005 and Glade Festival in 2009. Given the long history of a number of iconic events, particularly during the rise of electronic dance music, the land is firmly associated with the scene.[33]
Elsewhere on-site, the motocross track within the Matterley Basin has in the past held the British round of the World Championship, as well as the Motocross of Nations.[34] The site has also hosted the Tough Mudder endurance test series.[35]
Transport
Tickets are split between Wednesday and Thursday entry, staggered to help reduce strain on the transport system. Discounted entry tickets are available for those arriving via sustainable modes of transport, and include Wednesday-entry for free. In 2018, 35% of attendees arrived by coach or train.[36][AI-retrieved source]
The nearest railway station to the site is Winchester, with frequent shuttle buses running to a temporary bus station on-site.[36] National Express provides direct coach services to the site from 50+ UK cities, coach travel has doubled since 2013 under the festival’s green transport schemes.[37][AI-retrieved source]
Car parking is available on site, with £1 from each parking pass funding renewable energy projects, and car sharing heavily encouraged.[37] Cycling is also supported, including with guided cycling tours available from Bristol and London.[37]
Summary by year
- Notes
- The 2020 edition was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Charitable activities
Donations to various charities are made each year from the festival's profits;[64] in 2015 these were the Energy Revolution Initiative, Winchester Youth Counselling and Trinity Winchester. Tickets are donated to charity for raffles and competitions, and the festival works with Oxfam, MyCauseUK and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance who provide stewards. The festival also produces a fundraising CD at Christmas.[65] Since 2014, the festival have provided free children's arts & craft workshops at a pop-up event in nearby Winchester.[66]
For the 2019 event, Boomtown partnered with TreeSisters, an organization focusing on reforestation with women, to plant one tree for every ticket bought (48,000). After the event, it was announced that the partnership planted 71,725 trees.[67]
Incidents and deaths
During the 2011 festival, a woman aged 45 suffered a fatal heart attack after taking ecstasy.[68]
In 2013, 18-year-old Ellie Rowe from Glastonbury, Somerset, died after consuming alcohol and ketamine. The incident occurred the same day ketamine was reclassified from a class C to class B drug in the UK.[69] In the years following Rowe's death, her mother has become an advocate for on-site drug testing, saying the facilities may have saved her life.[70]
The following year, 31-year-old Lisa Williamson from Hereford was found hanged in a campsite toilet after using drugs.[71]
In 2016, 18-year-old Olivia Christopher from Chesham, Buckinghamshire, was discovered dead in her tent after a suspected drug overdose. It is believed she had consumed a cocktail of cocaine, ketamine, LSD, MDMA, and alcohol. That year, the police seized £79,000 of drugs at the festival, with an additional £55,000 worth being placed in amnesty bins at the gates.[72] The same year, a discarded cigarette started a fire which destroyed more than 80 cars.[73]
In the weeks leading up to the 2017 event, the construction of the city was hampered by bad weather, which contributed to delays at the gates, with some guests queuing for up to 10 hours to enter the site. The rest of the event proceeded without incident.[74]
In 2019, the festival saw very high winds, causing widespread damage to tents in all camping areas, as a result of fencing barriers blown onto the grounds. In addition, the Relic main-stage stage was closed during a performance by Shy FX after a piece of debris from the stage was blown onto the crowd. All subsequent acts that day were moved to the Lion's Den stage. The Relic stage re-opened the next day. No injuries were reported.[75]
From 2017, until authorities withdrew consent in 2019, drug-safety charity The Loop offered front-of-house drug testing on-site at Boomtown.[76] During the period this service, involving sample testing and tailored harm reduction advice, was available, no drug-related deaths occurred at the festival.[77]
In 2024, 22-year-old Benjamin Buckfield from Essex died at Boomtown festival after taking MDMA powder.[78]
Awards and nominations
DJ Magazine's top 50 Festivals
Drum & Bass Awards
A Greener Festival
| Year | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | A Greener Festival | Boomtown Fair | Commended | [86] |
| 2020 | Commended |
