Green Man Festival

The Green Man Festival began as a small event in Hay-on-Wye in 2003. The first year was attended by 300 people, the second 400, and the third 800.[1] Fiona Stewart then became managing director and moved the festival to its current location on the Glanusk Park estate near Crickhowell, in the Brecon Beacons National Park in Wales.[2]

In 2012, the festival had a daily capacity of 10,000 people and the headline acts were Mogwai, Van Morrisson and Feist.[3] By 2013, the festival had 20,000 visitors. It took place over 10 areas and it was possible to stay for a week with a settlers pass.[2] The 2017 festival celebrated the event's 15th anniversary.[4] In 2018, it had 25,000 visitors, with headline acts including Fleet Foxes, The War on Drugs and Public Service Broadcasting.[5] Bands and DJs play a range of musical styles, including indie, Americana, folk, psychedelia, reggae, electro and stoner rock.[3] In 2019, the headliners were Stereolab, Four Tet and Idles.[6] Headline acts announced for 2020 were Caribou, Goldfrapp, Michael Kiwanuka, Mac DeMarco and Little Dragon.[7]

As well as music areas, the festival has a children zone, a science workshop called Einstein's Garden and tents for literature, film, theatre and comedy.[5][3] Stewart said in 2015: "I really like people coming to the event and seeing them enjoy themselves. I mean I like hosting dinner parties, they’re not a chore, I think Green Man is the biggest dinner party I do."[8]

The Green Man Festival refuses commercial sponsorship and therefore can focus on local Welsh food and drink providers, rather than being tied into corporate deals.[5] It directly employs its workers, paying a living wage.[6] The festival has a strong ethical and environmental focus, using solar power as much as possible. The food and drink services are required to meet standards such as being Fairtrade, Red Tractor and Marine Conservation Society accredited. In 2019, Help Refugees (now known as Choose Love) and Newport to Calais Aid Collective collected donated tents to be recycled and reused.[9] The festival has never used single-use plastics and encourages caterers to use local produce.[6]

Renowned for its non-corporate, ethical approach, the Green Man Festival has won several awards including "Best Medium Sized Festival 2010",[10] and "Grass Roots Festival 2012".[11] In 2015, Green Man won "Best Festival" at the Live Music Business Awards.[12] As Managing Director, Fiona Stewart received the Outstanding Achievement Award at the UK Festival Awards in 2013.[13] It is the largest contemporary music and arts festival in Wales and has been given major event status by Welsh Government due to the festival's positive impact and wealth creation.[14]

Aurora Aksnes at Green Man in 2015

Robert Plant at Green Man in 2007

2019 A Certain Ratio, Adwaith, Aidan Moffat & RM Hubbert, Aldous Harding, Alex Rex, Alfresco Disco, Amadou & Mariam, Anais Mitchell, Anna St Louis, Arlo Day, Art School Girlfriend, Audiobooks, Avi Buffalo, Beabadoobee, Bess Atwell, Big Thief, Bill Ryder-Jones, Black Country, New Road, Bodega, Bridget St John, Brigid Mae Power, Callum Easter, Car Seat Headrest, Chappaqua Wrestling, Chelou, Chloe Foy, Deptford Northern Soul Club, DJ Big Jeff, Dry Cleaning, Durand Jones & The Indications, Dutty Disco, Eels, Eitha Da, Ex:Re, Ezra Collective, Father John Misty, Fever Club, Four Tet, Foxwarren, George Ogilvie, Greg Wilson, Grimm Grimm, Gwenifer Raymond, Gwenno, Hand Habits, Heavenly Jukebox, Hen Ogledd, Idles, James Heath, James Yorkston, Jerry, Jesca Hoop, Jockstrap, Johanna Samuels, John Talabot, Julia Jacklin, Just Mustard, Khruangbin, Lamb, Lee Fields & The Expressions, Malena Zavala, Mama's Broke, Mapache, Maribou State, Marika Hackman, Meggie Brown, Modern Nature, Molly Payton, N0V3L, Nilufer Yanya, Oscar Lang, Peaness, Penelope Isles, Pet Shimmers, Pictish Trail, Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs, Porridge Radio, Pottery, Pozi, PVA, Richard Thompson, Rosehip Teahouse, Say Sue Me, Scalping, Self Esteem, Sharon van Etten, Shy FX, Skinny Pelembe, Snapped Ankles, Sons of Kemet, Spiritcake, Squid, Squirrel Flower, Stealing Sheep, Stella Donnelly, Stereolab, Steve Mason, Tamino, The Beths, The Big Moon, The Comet is Coming, The Growlers, The Intergalactic Republic of Kongo, The Liminanas, The Mauskovic Dance Band, These New Puritans, The Wedding Present, Tim Presley's White Fence, Tiny Ruins, TVAM, Villagers, Whitney, Willie J Healey, Wych Elm, Yak, Yo La Tengo[15]

2018 Fenne Lily, War on Drugs, Fleet Foxes, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Lemon Twigs, Teenage Fanclub, Anna Calvi, Dirty Projectors, The Wedding Present [16]

2017 PJ Harvey, Ryan Adams, Future Islands, Kate Tempest, Angel Olsen, Thee Oh Sees, Saint Etienne, Sleaford Mods, Conor Oberst, Julia Jacklin, Ride, Pictish Trail and The Big Moon.[4]

2016 Belle and Sebastian, James Blake, Laura Marling, Wild Beasts, Warpaint, Grandaddy, Tindersticks, Julia Holter, White Denim, Battles, BC Camplight, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Floating Points, Ezra Furman, Michael Rother, Songhoy Blues, Jagwar Ma, Cate Le Bon, Fat White Family

2015 St Vincent, Super Furry Animals, Hot Chip, Leftfield, Slowdive, Goat, Father John Misty, Calexico, Television, Mew, Courtney Barnett, The Fall, Public Service Broadcasting, Temples, The Staves, Charles Bradley, Sun Ra Arkestra, Matthew E. White, Hunck, Beyond The Wizards Sleeve, The 2 Bears, Viet Cong, Dan Deacon, Waxahatchee, Hookworms, Marika Hackman, Emmy the Great

2014 Neutral Milk Hotel, Mercury Rev, Beirut, The Waterboys, Bill Callahan, Caribou, First Aid Kit, Slint, Nick Mulvey, The War on Drugs, Kurt Vile, Sharon Van Etten, Daughter, Poliça, Real Estate, Mac DeMarco, Panda Bear, Anna Calvi, Georgia Ruth, H. Hawkline, Sen Segur, Memory Clinic

2013 Kings of Convenience, Band of Horses, Ben Howard, Patti Smith, Fuck Buttons, Villagers, Swans, John Cale, Edwyn Collins, Stornoway, Local Natives, The Horrors, Midlake, Beak, Moon Duo, Parquet Courts, Phosphorescent, Jacco Gardner, Jon Hopkins, Sweet Baboo, Grass House, Roy Harper, Erol Alkan, Veronica Falls, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Local Natives, Low, Darkstar, British Sea Power

2012 Mogwai, Feist, Van Morrison, The Tallest Man On Earth, The Walkmen, Yann Tiersen, The Felice Brothers, Tune-Yards, Jonathan Richman, Dexys, Michael Kiwanuka, Cate Le Bon

2011 Fleet Foxes, Explosions In The Sky, Iron and Wine, The Low Anthem, Noah & The Whale, James Blake, Bellowhead, Villagers, Laura Marling, Robyn Hitchcock, The 2 Bears, Andrew Weatherall

2010 Doves, The Flaming Lips, Joanna Newsom, Mumford & Sons, Beirut, Billy Bragg, The Unthanks, Tindersticks, Laura Marling, Darwin Deez, John Grant, Fionn Regan, Fuck Buttons, Wild Beasts, Girls, Johnny Flynn, These New Puritans, The Tallest Man on Earth, Summer Camp, Steve Mason, "Metronomy Presents"

2009 Animal Collective, Jarvis Cocker, Wilco, Bon Iver, Wooden Shjips, British Sea Power, Errors, Grizzly Bear, Peggy Sue, Erland & The Carnival, Andrew Bird, Trembling Bells, Dirty Three

2008 Spiritualized, Super Furry Animals, Pentangle, Richard Thompson, Iron & Wine, The National, Laura Marling, Radio Luxembourg

2007 Joanna Newsom, Robert Plant, Stephen Malkmus, Devendra Banhart, Bill Callahan, Vashti Bunyan, Stephen Duffy & The Lilac Time, Battles, Seasick Steve, Gruff Rhys, Vetiver, Tunng, Steve Adey, John Renbourn, The Aliens, The Earlies

2006 Donovan, Jose Gonzalez, Calexico, Bat for Lashes, Micah P. Hinson, Jack Rose, Adem, Marissa Nadler

2005 Incredible String Band, Bonnie Prince Billy, Joanna Newsom, Adem, Wizz Jones, Tunng

The festival is a charitable partner of The Bevan Foundation and Oxfam Cymru, Cymdeithas yr laith Gymraeg, RSPB Cymru and Brecon Beacons National Park Authority all host stalls at the festival. Each year 40 stalls (worth over £17,000) are allocated to Welsh Charities and Not-for-Profit Organisations. £20,000 is raised annually for local arts and sports projects through a stall run by the Cwmdu Friends. In 2013 more than £16,000 was raised for a charitable trip to Uganda for students at the local Crickhowell High School. Since 2010, Green Man has raised £250,000 of donations for charities. Green Man also runs training programs with Merthyr Tydfil College and the Salvation Army in Cardiff to give training and mentoring to vulnerable young adults. Additionally, the festival also offers training for over 100 local volunteers providing them with work experience, workshops and life skills. A 2015 UK Music report, compiled based on research from Oxford Economics, identified Green Man, alongside the Wales Millennium Centre, as a major driver of Music Tourism in Wales.[17] In 2019, it was estimated that the festival put £40 million into the local Welsh economy.[6]

• Launched in 2008, Green Man Rising is an annual contest in which an unknown band can win the chance to open the Mountain Stage on the first day of the festival. In 2015, the contest was won by Hunck.[19]
• In 2006, Green Man hosted its first annual Boat Party on the River Thames. The event usually featured a line-up of both live music and DJ sets and a bar. The last boat party in 2012 featured performances by Field Music, Three Trapped Tigers and Tom Williams & The Boat. In 2016, Green Man renamed the boat party Green Man Ahoy!. The event took place on 7 May 2016 and featured Slow Club, Gengahr and Palace Winter.[20]
• In September 2015, the Green Man took its Courtyard bar to King's Cross in London for a four-day celebration of Welsh beer and cider. Over 180 beers and ciders were bought from independent Welsh brewers. Live music came from Ibibio Sound Machine, Stealing Sheep, Boxed In, Meilyr Jones, C Duncan, Cairobi and The Wave Pictures. The line-up on the Sunday was co-curated with Moshi Moshi Records.[21]
• The Green Man Festival celebrated St David's Day with a special one-day event in London's Cecil Sharp House. It was named ‘Hwyl’ (a lyrical Welsh term for ‘fun’) and was a celebration of Welsh culture, crafts and gastronomy with talks, theatre, storytelling and comedy. In 2015, live music came from Teleman, Georgia Ruth, Stanley Brinks, Sweet Baboo and Cowbois Rhos Botwnnog.[22] HWYL did not take place in 2016.
• Busk On The Usk was a free one-day festival held in Newport, South Wales at various locations along the banks of the River Usk. The event was The Welsh Contemporary Music's contribution to the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad and was co-produced by Fiona Stewart. The event featured a program of live music, discussions and lectures, art installations and local food stalls. The event was organised by Green Man with help from the people of Newport along with contributions from a number of Wales’ most important cultural organisations including Sŵn Festival, the Do Lectures, the Laugharne Weekend, the Bevan Foundation, the Centre for Regeneration Excellence Wales, Riverfront Theatre, University of Wales Newport and Arts Council Wales. The music line-up included Scritti Politti, Anna Calvi, Cate Le Bon and Jon Langford. An estimated 6,000 people attended the event.

• List of music festivals in the United Kingdom

• Green Man Festival official website
• The Official Green Man Festival forum