When parents go away for the weekend and fail to leave explicit instructions dictating that their loved children ‘must not throw a festival in the back garden’, events such as Leefest are inevitable. Having evolved from its 2006 roots as a party in the garden with seven bands, the not for profit festival in Bromley returns on June 29th-30th with one of the best line ups of the summer.
Slow Club, Mystery Jets and Summer Camp all incite squeals of delight whenever I see/hear/think about them, and are reason enough to make the epic half an hour journey from London, even were it not for the whole raft of other acts, including Tom Williams & The Boat, Scotland’s sunniest export Bwani Junction (check out the videos from The Great Escape Rooftop Sessions), the Long Blondes esque Lets Buy Happiness, synth pop via CasioKids and Distiller signings Sound of Guns.
The music line up is amazing, but if you want to go beyond that, there’s visual art from Screen Social, a live curation of Inc magazine and a showcase of musical scores from The Sound Of Film and a glittery whirlwind of magical fun courtesy of Wonderland. A whole batch of stuff proving why the festival has been praised by The Guardian and won accolades in the UK Festival Awards, for being small but perfectly formed.
If you want a taster of what’s in store, check out the playlists that Leefest have kindly pulled together for you.
Tickets are like, mega good value, at only £57 for the weekend, and profits support Kids Company, making it a more than worthy way to spend the weekend. Or you can try and win a pair with It’s All Happening – simply tweet ‘Can I party with you @IAH_music at this year’s @Leefest?’ by midnight on June 15th, and we will pick a winner at random! Good luck!
