Party atmosphere as Vintage At Goodwood opens
After more than a year in the planning and tens of thousands of pounds spent on the infrastructure, Vintage at Goodwood is upon us.
And after a slow start with ticket sales, now up to 10,000 people each day will be descending on Goodwood over the next three days.
So what will they see?
Most, of course, are there for the music. Some of the biggest names on the music scene of the past 50 years will be appearing on one of the several stages around the huge arena.
But there's more to the event than music. The most striking feature is the high street, an amazing pop-up structure.
It includes restaurants, a traditional British pub, shops – including a
re-creation of the first Oxfam charity store, a Dr Martens retailer, and many more – and more than 200 stalls.
Millionaire entrepreneur Wayne Hemingway, who launched the fashion label Red or Dead, has worked on the project with his wife Gerardine and Lord March.
He says: "It is designed like a music festival, over a three-day period. I would urge people to come and try it and see what it is about.
"It has been very difficult trying to explain to people what the event is all about. There's so much to it.
"At the beginning, all anyone wanted to know was who were the headline bands.
"But we said the DJs were just as important, as is the fashion show, as is the art.
"Have a look at what Vic Reeves is doing in the bad art salon, which is really, really funny and really clever.
"It's more than music. Today there's Sandie Shaw, The Faces and Mick Hucknell. Then Saturday there's a strong 1970s and 80s
theme with disco and dance and a feel-good factor about it. On Sunday there's Heaven 17.
"Whatever day people come, they're not going to see the same music repeated. Everything changes every day – all the entertainment changes every day.
"At the end of the three days, I want people to look back and think they have had a really great time. I don't want them to look back on one highlight.
"If there's only one highlight, it means there may have been stuff that hasn't been well done.
"I want people saying they really enjoyed watching that particular band, I thought Earth Wind and Fire were amazing, I saw this busker and wondered why he wasn't a big star, I learnt how to dance and do the jitterbug, then I saw this really rare film I'd always wanted to watch, and then there was the food...
"One day I sat and ate, and I bought this amazing suit or vintage dress, and I picked up a vase I'd been after, and bought this really nice table... that's how I want it to be, rather than people saying they saw just one band and they were the highlight.
"The idea for this festival is for the experience to be rounded.
"It has been a slow-burner, but now interest in what we are doing is phenomenal.
"People now get what we are trying to achieve, as the ticket sales are phenomenal.
"At the beginning things were hard, but as soon as you get
the message out, it has been great.
"We are on to something. We'll be here next year.
"We're still going to lose money this year. But we're in this for the
long haul.
"You don't build a high street like we have done in the
first year and make money.
"It's a proper structure we are investing in. We're not just hiring in tents.
"We have paid a lot of set-up costs in year one, and perhaps by year three or year four we'll be in profit – that's the aim, anyway.
"We're already planning for next year. You know other brands will want to be in the high street – I wouldn't be surprised to see that grow to twice the size next year.
"We know some potential sponsors are coming this year to check things out, and that they'll be on board next year.
"It'll grow and grow. But not too big.
"Glastonbury is 170,000 a day – 17 times what we are. We don't want to be that – it's not my plan, or Lord March's.
"When something's that big it becomes too commercial and loses its 'cool'.
"I'd like it to remain a boutique festival for a few years, and that means keeping it under 20,000 a day for a few years, and take it from there.
"We want to keep it as one big party."
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Weather for Chichester
Wednesday 30 May 2012
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