The band made the first attempt to organize a music festival in East Devon in 2002. However, the Green Blade Fayre was canceled due to licensing difficulties. Nonetheless, the next year the Levellers successfully organized the Beautiful Days Festival. The first two editions were held over two days (Saturday and Sunday) and featured two stages, the Main Stage and the Big Top. Since 2005, Beautiful Days has been a three-day event, running Friday through Sunday.
Since 2012, the festival has utilized six stages. They are the Main Stage, the Big Top, the Little Big Top, the Band Stand, the Bimble Inn and the Theater Tent. The Main Stage and the Big Top host the majority of established musicians and bands, while the Band Stand and the Bimble Inn are designed for emerging artists. The Little Big Top is a dance-oriented stage, whereas the Theater Tent hosts theater, comedy, cabaret and children’s acts.
The Beautiful Days Festival is held on the third weekend in August, running concurrently with the V Festival that takes place in Essex and Staffordshire. Although the coincidence was not originally deliberate, The Levellers’ lead vocalist and guitarist Mark Chadwick later stated he liked it because the ethos of the independent Beautiful Days Festival is the antithesis of the corporate-sponsored V Festival.
Beautiful Days is a multi-genre festival that presents different styles of music, including rock, alternative rock, reggae, punk, post-punk, country rock, folk rock, blues, dance, and others. Past Main Stage headliners have included The Levellers, The Stranglers, The Wonder Stuff, Killing Joke, Gogol Bordello, Squeeze, Hawkwind, The Wailers, Big Audio Dynamite, Public Image Ltd, Primal Scream, Seasick Steve, Dropkick Murphys, Leftfield, and others. The line-up always features both national and international acts.
The Beautiful Days Festival is a family-friendly event that offers a wide range of activities. There are several bars for adults run by a local brewery, food stalls, a shop, and the Children’s Area run by the Majical Youth Theater. It offers a variety of workshops, face painting, storytelling, child-friendly performances, storytelling, and more. In 2011, Beautiful Day won the Best Family Festival Award art the UK Festival Awards.
Photo: beautifuldays.org
