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With music, science, craft beer and traditional dancing high in the picturesque Brecon Beacons, the Green Man festival has become a staple of the UK music festival scene over the past 20 years. More than music, it has developed a reputation for its friendly atmosphere, but the wide variety of folk and live acts, and family friendliness also draw punters back. (Partying hard is absolutely an option too.)
Here are five reasons why Green Man festival absolutely slaps.
The Green Man festival atmosphere is off the scale
Green Man must be the UK’s most beautiful festival. The backdrop for the main stage – which we’re calling the Welsh answer to Table Mountain – is simply stunning. Often the trade-off is some poor weather (last year it absolutely bucketed it down) but this year the Gods behaved themselves. A Friday afternoon at the Mountain Stage listening to Johnny Flynn, This is the Kit and Arlo Parks was always likely to be special. With the sun shining it kicked off a joyous weekend of sun and music.
The sheer quality of the music
There was no shortage of talent on Green Man’s billing this year, with burgeoning and established names from the worlds of indie, rock, blues, jazz and folk. But no one could miss the knock-out headline set from Big Thief, the slow-burn American indie folk icons. Green Man has developed a reputation as a place to hear the latest sounds from the biggest bands, and the group opted for a set filled with heartfelt new music, climaxing in a mesmeric performance of the unreleased Incomprehensible, which garnered the festival’s most moving singalong.
Big Thief were preceded by Tuareg band Tinariwen, whose expansive desert blues guitar brought a striking contrast to the green hills of the Brecon Beacons. Earlier in the day Ibibio Sound Machine’s mix of electronic Afro-funk at the Far Out stage got the crowd bopping wildly. However, the weekend’s dance crown has to go to Ezra Collective on Sunday. The Mercury Prize winners kicked flagging festival goers out of their slumber with an explosive jazz masterclass that had the crowd jumping uncontrollably, before Sampha’s ethereal neo-soul closed out main stage.
A striking feature of Green Man is the sheer range of music on offer. It feels like you can listen to almost anything, and always at the highest standard. Saturday night at the Far Out stage finished with Peruvian producer Sofia Kourtesis banging out groovy tunes and on Sunday morning we joined in with a joyful jig in front of Manchester folk group Brown Wimpenny. Just an hour before Ezra Collective’s bouncing set, the Mountain Stage had been taking in art-rock outfit Black Country, New Road.
The variety means there’s always something new at Green Man festival
There is also plenty going on late into the night, with DJs at the thumping Chai Wallahs tent blasting out anything from Queen to a surprisingly enjoyable drum and bass remix of Green Onions.
The crowd contributes to the spectacular vibes
The crowd contributes a lot to Green Man’s wonderful atmosphere. During his set, Sampha complimented the crowd for feeling particularly open – festivals aren’t famous for their open-mindedness so this is a huge compliment. Multiple bands talked about how much they loved playing there. Its not really a surprise. Whatever music you like, Green Man is both a beautiful and caring place to be. On two occasions, artists halted their performance on the main stage when crowd members fell unwell. In one performance a small group of strangers sat together to nurse a struggling attendee back to health.
Read more: Inside the music festival where Kate Middleton partied with underground DJs
Burning the Green Man is an amazing spectacle
No two festival-goers will ever have the same experience given the different acts available. Jon Hopkins or the Jesus and Mary Chain; Explosions in the Sky or Sampha. And its not just the music. Despite our best efforts, City A.M. hardly got around to any of the talks, films or activities put on throughout the weekend. There’s just so much to do.
