The Hi-Fi Festival - Homelands Remixed :: Wessex Scene Online

The Hi-Fi Festival - Homelands Remixed

11th June 2006
Rick Overington

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Mar 06 - Homelands Festival Scrapped
Oct 06 - Dance on at the Union 2006
Dec 05 - Dance music shouldn’t be seen as drug music
Oct 05 - LoSt VaGUeNeSS
Jun 06 - Tekno Vs Breaks - The Showdown!

Dance music is evolving and with it,so is the summer festival scene. Following the mixed success of last year’s Homelands, organisers have decided to completely do away with the original Homelands nametag and have also revamped the entire format in an attempt to regain the revellers. In its place comes Hi:Fi South, still at the Matterley Bowl nr. Winchester.

It is one of three simultaneous events nationwide, with sister festivals also taking place in Newcastle and Ireland, and has been developed by the genius minds behind last year’s hugely successful Global Gathering.

Hi:Fi will be cross-genre in nature and organisers boast that it will "change the festival landscape forever" by giving an unprecedented equal billing to rock and dance acts.

In addition, this year the festival will run for two days with camping available for the first time ever, making it attractive to those looking for an alternative to Glastonbury, which is taking a sabbatical in 2006.

The shift in emphasis may come as a blow to many hardcore dance fans but it is nevertheless unsurprising. Last year acts such as Pete Docherty’s Babyshambles were added to an otherwise dance orientated lineup in order to boost numbers. Many arenas were also left prematurely empty, leaving some to conclude the event was already loosing its magic.

In addressing these problems Hi:Fi may well be the remix treatment Homelands needs. Regardless of how good the music is, nobody likes a low capacity crowd and perhaps adding big name rock bands like Hard-Fi, The Go Team and Super Furry Animals will help recapture the magic? It’s not as if these acts have been added at the expense of big-name DJs either; arenas from Godskitchen, Air Breaks, Movement and Polysexual/Slinky will play host to some veritable Gods of the dance scene including: Sasha, Paul Okenfoald, Judge Jules, Carl Cox, The Plump DJs, and many more. Added distractions also include a fairground and chill-out cinema. In fact the festival should provide the perfect balanced solution to the continual dilemma of a student house divided in musical tastes.

There’s only one problem…the date. As usual, it is right before exams, on Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th May. Again, the planners persist in failing to take advantage of the huge student population on their doorstep by scheduling Hi:Fi at that most important time of year. Having said that though, first years should go for it – you only have to pass your exams and you shouldn’t be broke just yet! Weekends tickets are Ł99 and Day tickets Ł54.50. See www.hififestival.co.uk.