The UK's most reputable dance music festival is approaching.

July 24^th and 25^th will see near to 50,000 dance fans heading to Long Marston Air Field in Oxfordshire for a yearly event that has a habit of chewing up clubbers and spiting them out, in such a state that results in their social calendar going on hold for weeks. Sound painful? On the contrary, Global Gathering, now in its 9^th year brings the dance music scene’s most reputable acts and DJs and places them in front of crowds of the industry’s enthusiasts for what can only be described as one colossal field party.

Having experienced the festival last year, I can vouch for its level of shear greatness. It is an event that one must experience to fully appreciate, and no written words will do full justice. Last year the festival drew a big question mark, due to its strange choice of headliners, these being acts such as Kanye West, Mark Ronson and Robyn amongst many others. All extremely popular acts in their own fields but hold questionable appeal for the common dance music fan. Despite this, the festival was a huge success, reflected both through ticket sales and the atmosphere created at the time by the said acts. The performances were very well received and the sceptics were proved wrong!

This year, a slightly more traditional line up has been announced, with the headliners being what most would call strictly within the dance music genre. The Prodigy, Orbital and Pendulum are the three names at the top of the bill with DJs such as Armin Van Buren, David Guetta, Paul Van Dyk, Carl Cox, Eric Prydz and Southampton boy James Zabiela, all following in quick succession to name but a few. 

Having been to a number of festivals and undergone the related camping experience on countless occasions, I can be put at ease knowing that Global’s camping facilities are in place to ensure the experience is as pleasant as possible. It has been noted in previous years that global is one of the few festivals that actually seems to care about the shower and toilet facilities and with the camp site being the equivalent size of 50 football pitches, space is no issue. Although if this is still not enough, those slightly more wealthy individuals can splash out and buy the Cloud9 camping packages that offer boutique accommodation, private washrooms and VIP access along with a whole host of other assets.

It is fair to say that Global Gathering is the market leader for dance music festivals, and anyone considering attending a festival this summer and who is unsure as to which one to choose, Global should definitely be considered, on top of the stellar line up, it is one of the friendliest festivals in the country.

A review of the event will follow this publication. Until then, get clicking and ticket buying!

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