The Rise and Fall of the ’80s Free Festival

*Who do the green roads and wide open spaces of Albion belong to?

 

*This episode is a story is about a collision of two cultures - the counterculture of the twin tribes of urban free party ravers and new age travellers - and the mainstream culture of landowners, the legal authorities, English Heritage and right-wing politicians.

 

*In the first of a series on '80s and '90s counterculture, Aaron Trinder, director of the documentary 'Free Party: A Folk History' came to the Bureau to tell how that collision played out in the years between 1985 and 1992 when extra-ordinary free festivals and parties built  on youthful passion, music, community, dancing, the desire to connect with the ancient landcape  - and drugs - were violently suppressed.

 

*We hear of the brutal police tactics at 'The Battle of the Beanfield' and at Britiain's largest ever free rave at Castle Morton; how legislation has curtailed the culture of the travellers, the use of common land and ancient rights of access, and we note that whilst free festivals have been crushed, commercial festivals have become an essential part of the the mainstream culture, the entertainment industry and the economy.

 

*Upcoming: Mark Angelo Harrison on Spiral Tribe

 

More on Aaron's film 'Free Party a Folk History' 

 

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