Festival N°6
Festival N°6 is an annual art and music festival held at Portmeirion, Wales. The festival presents a wide range of music genres, including rock and roll, folk, house, techno and dance. It is considered as a family festival, as specific places are organized to welcome whole families, as No.6’s Mischief Meadow[1] for children and a designated family camping area. Working with 'Attitude is Everything', the festival also adapted to disabled people.[2]
| Portmeirion | |
 Overview of the central plaza |
|
  Portmeirion |
|
| OS grid reference | SH593376 |
|---|---|
| Community | Penrhyndeudraeth |
| Principal area | Gwynedd |
| Country | Wales |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Police | North Wales |
| Fire | North Wales |
| Ambulance | Welsh |
| EU Parliament | Wales |
Coordinates: 52°55′04″N 4°05′35″W / 52.91778°N 4.09293°W
History
The first event took place on 14 September 2012; around 6500 persons attended the festival.[3]
Village of Portmeirion
The festival takes place in the North of Wales in the village of Portmeirion on the Snowdonia coast in the Welsh county of Gwynedd. The village location is composed of many edifices inspired by the artchitecture of an Italian coastal town. Portmeirion village was built between 1925 and 1978 by the architect Sir Clough Williams Ellis.[4] The festival takes place throughout the village, with the main music events located in adjacent fields; the typical Italian infrastructures show an atypical side of Portmeirion village which is part of the festival atmosphere. The music events and activities range from the Colonnade Gardens to the River Dwyryd, from the Tanglewoods to the beach.[5]
The Prisoner
The origin of the festival's name based on the cult TV show The Prisoner, which was filmed largely on location at Portmeirion. This famous British television series of the 1960s is composed of 17 episodes. The main character is called "Number 6", and was played by the actor Patrick McGoohan. In the series, Number 6 is a secret agent held as a prisoner in a mysterious coastal village. This TV show is iconic of the village and made it famous internationally. The character "Number 6" embodies a free thinking spirit, an ideal adopted by the festival.
Art, culture and activities
The N°6 Festival includes live music, poetry readings, comedy, talks and other cultural activities. The festival also includes a range of participative activities to complement the mainstream music events and develop differentiation from other music festivals. These have included, for example : 'Giant Mind', 'Urban Sketching', and 'Extraordinary Bubbles'...[6]
Artists
Since 2012 Festival N°6 hast hosted more than 200 musical artists and many other various artists that performed at different locations, playing comedy, talks or performance art. The 2012 edition on 14, 15 and 16 September, was in partnership with Electric Elephant Festival. The second edition of the festival was on 13, 14 and 15 September 2013. The line-up for 5, 6 and 7 September 2014 is not available yet. Artists that performed during the two first years included:
| Year | Musical artists | Other artists |
| 2012 | François Kevorkian, Erol Alkan, MR.Scruff, Derrick Carter, Sean Johnston, Jerry Dammers, Don Letts, Optimo, Luke Solomon, Daniele Baldelli, Harri & Domenic, PBR Streetgang, Kelvin Brown, Will Tramp, Jonny Trunk, Mike Pickering, Sophie Lloyd, Jon Carter, Dub Pistols Soudsystem, Good Sport, Blonde Ambition, Paradise 45, Pete Hebert, Andrea Trout, New Order, Primal Scream, Spiritualized, Richard Hawley, Gruff Rhys, British Sea Power... | Caitlin Moran (Literature and talks), Phil Jupitus (Comedy), Jan Morris (Literature and talks), Marcus Brigstocke (Comedy), Stuart Maconie (Literature and talks), Propagating Dan (Woodland trails), Andrew Maxwell (Comedy), Simon Day (Literature and talks), Tony Law (Comady), Evie Wyld (Literature and talks, Wade McElwain (Comedy)... |
| 2013 | James Blake, My Bloody Valentine, Manic Street Preachers, Jagwar Ma, Mount Kimbie, Johnny Marr, Frankie Knuckles, Norman Jay, Carl Craig, Andrew Weatherall, Daniel Avery, Daddy G, Geraint Jarman, David Holmes and Andy Votel, Bryn Fôn, Justin Robertson, Crazy P Soudsystem, Horse Meat Disco, Mark Thomas, Seann Walsh, Clinic, Caitlin Rose, Wire, Stuart Maconie, Tricky, Caitlin Moran... | The Brythoniaid male voice choir (Special performances), Joe Duddell (Special performances), John Cooper Clark (Literature and talks), DBC Pierre (Literature and talks), Paul Morley (Literature and talks), Bob Stanley (Literature and Talks), John Niven (Literature and talks), Joe Dunthorne (Literature and talks), Viv Groskop (Literature and talks)... |
| 2014 | Beck, Pet Shop Boys, London Grammar, Bonobo, Neneh Cherry & RocketNumberNine, Steve Mason, Martha Reeves and The Vandellas, Temples, Jimi Goodwin, James Holden, Los Campesinos!, John Wizards, Jon Hopkins, Paul Heaton & Jacqui Abbott, The Undertones, Tom Hickox, Tom Vek, Spector, Toy, Vaults, The Acid, Peter Hook and the Light, Denai Moore, Cherry Ghost, Alexis Taylor, The Radiophonic Workshop, East India Youth, The Rails, All We Are, Arthur Beatrice, Childhood, Telegram... | The Brythoniaid male voice choir (Special performances), Joe Duddell (Special performances), John Robb (Literature and talks), Matt Everitt... |
| 2015 | Metronomy, Belle & Sebastian, James, Grace Jones, Mark Ronson (DJ set), British Sea Power, Years And Years, Haelos, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Everything Everything, James Bay, Gaz Coombes, Young Fathers, Kate Tempest, Rae Morris, Shura, Stornoway, The Bohicas | The Brythoniaid male voice choir (Special performances), Gruff Rhys (Special feature), Irvine Welsh, Bernard Sumner, John Niven, Stuart Maconie, Brix Smith... |
Accommodation
During the event, Portmeirion's village offers visitors a limited availability of accommodation in the village itself. Visitors also have the possibility to make a reservation in hotels, bunk houses, cottages, camper vans, yurts, tipis and tents.[7] One of the organizers at Portmeirion, Meurig Jones, stated that 10 000 people were the average number of persons expected at the festival, due to the size of the village.[3] The majority of accommodation is in campsites adjacent to the village and music locations.
References
- ↑ "We Welcome Families... – Festival Number 6". Thenotebook.festivalnumber6.com. 2012-07-19. Retrieved 2014-02-04.
- ↑ "General Info | Tickets & Info". Festival Number 6. Retrieved 2014-02-04.
- 1 2 "BBC News - 10,000 expected for second Festival No.6 at Portmeirion". Bbc.co.uk. 2013-09-13. Retrieved 2014-02-04.
- ↑ Polly March. "Blogs - Wales - Festival Number 6 hopes to build on last year's runaway success". BBC. Retrieved 2014-02-04.
- ↑ Emma Mills (2013-09-12). "Festival Number 6: Six acts to watch in Portmeirion this weekend | Metro News". Metro.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-02-04.
- ↑ "Arts & Culture". Festival Number 6. Retrieved 2014-02-04.
- ↑ "Accommodation". Festival Number 6. Retrieved 2014-02-04.