Photographer: Alan ‘Tash’ Lodge
Inspired by and working alongside the creators of "Free Party: A Folk History" a major independent documentary currently in post-production, Free Party: A Retrospective, was a mixture of free activity and ticketed club night events brought you by the people who lived and breathed this movement. A cultural history, a place to revisit memories as well as understand the journey that built today's free party and festival scene, giving a first person view into a pivotal point in our times.
Exhibition
Free Party: a Retrospective was an extensive exhibition which celebrated and re-evaluated the impact that the free party rave and free festival movement had on culture, politics and protest exactly 30 years to the date that Castlemorton Free Festival took place. The event comprised photography, artefacts, memorabilia, archive, film, and installations that looked at all aspects of the movement and the legacy it left behind in present day culture, politics, music and communiies all around the world.
Exhibition BROCHURE
We created an A1 fold out exhibition catalogue so that people could see all the events in one place, where each artist was highlighted and we wanted to have a take-away item that could become a keepsake from the event.
CLUB NIGHTS
Spiral Tribe The legendary Sound System's roots are firmly embedded in the underground origins of Free Party events. Their distinct sound, striking artwork and inclusive gatherings - that welcomed anyone and everyone to the dance-floor - left a permanent imprint in the minds of all those who attended.
Bedlam Sound System, spent most of the past 3 decades putting on parties. Born out of Hackney, in the early 90’s, they were passionate and prolific, organising house and free squat parties in the capital, drawing crowds of 1000’s every weekend.
DiY The collective emerging from Nottingham in the summer of 1989, were one of the first house sound systems in the UK. Merging the anarchic lineage of the free festival scene, the cultural and political anger of bands like Crass with the new, irresistible electronic pulse of acid house, they bridged the idealistic void left by the moral implosion of the commercial rave scene.
FILM SCREENINGS
Taking centre stage at the event were three ‘work in progress’ screenings of Free Party: A Folk History. Director, Aaron Trinder said:
“When independently embarking on the idea to make a feature doc about the Free Party movement I had no idea of the breadth and depth of the stories I would find when interviewing people from the scene, including Circus Warp, DiY, Spiral Tribe, Free Party People, Bedlam and many others within the travelling, sound system and rave communities. As a result, I realised that the film could only ever show so much of such a rich and interesting cultural history, so the notion of an exhibition, allowing many of the contributors to the film to tell their own stories came about.
“Thankfully the arts council liked the idea, so I’m very excited that, with the efforts and support of Showponies and Lost Horizon we’re able to give people free access to this amazing cultural story, told by those who lived it, for the very first time.”
Images by LABL FOTO