5 things we love about Houghton festival
Houghton Festival has wrapped for another year, drawing a close to four days of electronic music in a gorgeous woodland setting.
It wasn’t just incredible sets and beautiful scenery, though. Hilariously, Kate Middleton was on site on Saturday after visiting a friend who lives in the Houghton Hall where the festival is set.
If you need to book a festival for 2024, here are five reasons why Houghton festival is a brilliant edition to the UK festival scene.
DJs really care about playing at Houghton, you can tell by the quality of their sets
Houghton is the type of festival that attracts people who work in music. The line-up is prestigious, and the sound quality and effort put into live sets is next level. We watched Red Axes, Ben UFO and Erol Alkan on Saturday night, and at all of those sets it just felt like the DJs were putting in the extra effort. The audience properly understand what they’re listening to, so DJs mix things up and test new sounds and styles. It makes the sets feel deeper and more considered than ever, and we’re here for that.
It has an absolutely beautiful woodland setting
If you’re the type of person who goes to festivals for the camping and outdoorsy vibes, and being with friends, Houghton will impress you. Set on the grounds of the historic Houghton Hall, its focal point is a lake, around which stages are dotted. Most of the stages are under the cover of a woodland canopy, and with fairy lights everywhere, you properly feel removed. It feels like extra effort has been made to make the festival feel deep in nature. From the way the stages are all buried amongst the trees, and with no corporate stages in sight, it’s easy to forget the outside world.
It’s a great place to learn about the roots of dance music
A dedicated stage has daily talks and information about the diversity of dance music, including its roots in jazz. The idea is to make electronic music fans realise the classic ‘four on the floor’ rhythm is not the only way: there are other styles of beat that should be given more attention, particularly in our UK scene where things can feel a bit samey. Listen, learn, then have a dance to something new.
Even though it’s a dance music festival, Houghton forces you to slow down
The stages don’t have names, and there aren’t super famous DJs playing, so the festival makes you question the way you typically behave at festivals. When there’s no headliner to race to, or plan your day around, it’s easier to spend longer at an unknown act you’ve just discovered, for instance. There’s the sense that nowhere has an agenda, and everyone is just wandering around seeing what’s going to happen. While it takes a while to get into, overall it conjures a relaxed feeling.
Kate Middleton went, which is absolutely hilarious
Yep, our future queen was partying with us normies in a field in Norfolk. To house and techno music. We would be gutted we didn’t spot the most unlikely festivalgoer of the century, but we were having too much fun.
Houghton festival returns in 2024 and tickets are on sale