OTHER NOMINEES
SW4
EASTERN ELECTRICS
LOVE SAVES THE DAY
BOOMTOWN

WE ARE WON!
We Are FSTVL have won the coveted Best Dance Festival gong this year, just pipping SW4 to the post...

Taking place in what organisers have labelled their “Air Field of Dreams”, located in Upminster on the East London-Essex border, you’re more likely to see the biggest DJs and producers on the planet than ghosts of old baseball players at this respected double-header. Although we’ve been wrong before.

In just three instalments, We Are FSTVL has established a reputation for innovation and mayhem in the great outdoors, attended by a truly up-for-it crowd, and has well and truly taken the breaks off, expanding in both size and length to ensure more hedonists have a chance to experience the action.

Moving from one to two days in 2014, the capacity for Saturday and Sunday grew to a small village-sized 25,000 for this year’s bash, which boasted a line-up including Carl Cox, Steve Aoki, Dixon & AME, Masters At Work, Solomun, Seth Troxler, Loco Dice, Hannah Wants, Sven Vath, Jamie Jones, MK, Gorgon City, Jackmaster and almost 200 more names across 16 arenas. With more spoils than the Ambassador’s Reception, it’s  not really surprising you picked this out for the top spot in this category.

“To be honest, everyone on the team feels completely humbled and honoured to have won this award,” says Reece Miller, the festival’s director, who began promoting under-18 events at the tender age of 13.

“It’s our fourth trophy in three years, and accolades — especially those from our fans — mean a hell of a lot to us. We thank everyone for voting, it’s a massive feather in our cap and we’re really grateful for the support.”

“When we started We Are FSTVL, it was because we noticed a gap in the scene in our area of the country — basically a lack of completely dance-focused, large scale festivals — and we wanted to test ourselves at the highest end of the industry,” Reece continues.

“Now we have a healthy capacity, but then every promoter in the country has ambitions to put on a greater and better show, and so with that in mind we would want to continue developing it as far as the event can go whilst still retaining the production quality overall.”

Words: MARTIN GUTTRIDGE-HEWITT