Leicester’s Handmade Festival is one of the new kids on the UK ‘DIY’ festival block. It’s made a name for itself as an intimate event that brings together the whole local creative community, curated by an ensemble of independent venues and promoters for the last three years running. There’s a real grassroots, collaborative kind of character about it, having to “beg borrow and steal to survive”, all the while striving to showcase the best of local talent alongside the biggest alternative acts.
Calling it a labour of love might sound like somewhat of a cliché, but there’s not a shadow of a doubt that Handmade is a real product of passion by its followers which sets itself out as a genuine level-headed contender amongst the competition. On the tail end of its final headliner announcement Deaf Havana, we caught up with organiser John Helps to get the low-down on what to expect from its next outing.
What’s the story behind how Handmade started out? What inspired you to start out and what makes it different from other festivals?
I guess I’d always wanted to start a festival – I can’t really imagine any job I’d like to do more, anyway. We’d been running an event called White Noise Christmas for a few years, which was focused on local music and raised money for charity, but we felt that we were reaching the limits of what we could do with it. That kind of coincided with the news that Leicester’s keynote music event, Summer Sundae, was cancelled that year and we felt like we should do something to fit in to that vacuum. Not to replace it, but so that there was that focal point for music in the city I suppose.
Is there any particular ethos or concept behind it?
There definitely is. We come from quite a “DIY” background and making the festival happen that first year involved a lot of people pitching in with favours and for the love of making something happen. We’ve retained that work ethic and ethos all the way through, even as we’ve grown in to the bigger venues that we now occupy. We want to make something great happen in our city, and that’s the single driving force behind the event.
The UK festival industry is a very crowded one. What’s it been like as a newcomer amongst all the competition?
We’re four years in now and seeing a lot more new festivals starting up around us, so we kind of feel like the weird adolescent of the UK festival scene. Still a bit scruffy and wet behind the ears, but we also feel like we have a place and that people are starting to respect us and understand where we’re coming from I suppose. It’s a nice place to be.
What makes it unique amongst the small size, DIY-festival scene like 2000trees and End of the Road?
Being indoors in one building with multiple stages is a big thing I think. I’m not aware of another small festival with a similar musical background that is set up in the same way. I think the “curated” nature of Handmade is important – which is where the name comes from. We have various friends and record labels and awesome people putting stages together for us, with their own particular stamp on that element of the event.
Why choose the city of Leicester for it? Do you involve the local scene much?
The four “directors” for want of a better word are all Leicester based and from the various venues and independent promoters throughout the city – Firebug, The Cookie, Robot Needs Home, and the well missed Leicester Charlotte. We all know and love the music scene and try to keep it as an important element of the festival. Part of what we want the festival to be is something that musicians from Leicester aspire to perform at. There aren’t a huge number of things that do that for the city, and we hope that we can be good enough that people want to be a part of it.
Why did you move to the O2 Academy and how has this changed the nature of the festival? What’s the fans reaction to the decision been like?
It was certainly contentious at the time. Being from a DIY background it wasn’t something we took lightly, but it is 100% the best space for the festival right now. We wouldn’t be able to try to be the festival we want to be without their support in this crucial period where we try to grow just that little bit more. Once doors were open last year we felt totally vindicated in taking that risk – it was an amazing atmosphere. There is room for improvement, sure, but it was such a huge step up for us.
How do you feel that the festival has improved over the last couple of years? Has it become any less of a challenge with experience?
It’s become the even I imaged that I wanted to be a part of in year one. It’s taken a little time to get there, but I think we’ve checked every band that was on my initial wish list of headliners off that list now. Now we have to up those aspirations and do something even better next year. It’s been slightly more of a challenge each year, but I’m also less naïve as the years go on so I know what needs doing before I need to do it, rather than making it up as we go along!
What influences the choice of bands you book? And how about the film, arts and community side?
We want “New and exciting” music. That’s the only real constraint. It is coloured by the various promoters particular likes and dislikes, what we’ve promote throughout the year, and what we know that Leicester is in to I guess, but we try to book a line up that satisfies the local tastes and also tries to bring people in to the city I suppose. The Film and art and photography is curated by various friends of the festival and by graduates and undergraduates from DeMontfort University, so it’s always something fresh and exciting to have within the festival.
Who have been your favourite acts that Handmade has hosted before?
This question is impossible to answer. We had And So I Watch You From Afar in year two, who I’m a huge fan of musically and as people… Tall Ships have played for us a couple of times and are always incredible… and Future of the Left were something really special last year.
Is there anything in particular that you’re most looking forward to about 2016? (Any new developments, announcements, ect.)
I always joke that as this point I am most looking forward to the Sunday night when everything’s over, but no… I can’t want for people to see the new site layout and to release the rest of the line-up. As important as the headliners are I love when we get to put some acts that people might not know in front of people and go “what do you think of this, huh?”. That makes the festival for me.
What’s your best festival experience ever been?
I always have a tremendous time at 2000 Trees Festival… Getting to watch Mclusky there last year was a real highlight.
What can we expect to see from Handmade for the future?
Hopefully we’ll keep growing, little by little, but keep our special little spark of weird and exciting music burning. That’s as far as the plan stretches right now.
Could you summarise Handmade in a sentence?
A tonne of people watching three days of awesome, exciting and genuinely important music, art, film, photography and performance across multiple stages, under one roof… in Leicester.
Thanks John.
For those discerning pundits out there with a taste for the alternative, and fans of the likes of 2000trees and ArcTanGent, Handmade 2016 is sure worth checking out. The festival takes place at O2 Academy Leicester between April 29th to May 1st. Tickets and more information available here: http://handmadefestival.co.uk
