# Beautiful Days (festival)

Beautiful Days is a music festival that takes place in August at Escot Park, near Ottery St Mary, Devon. The festival was founded by, and is managed by the band the Levellers and was first held in 2003. The festival has no corporate sponsorship or branding, leading to Virtual Festivals proclaiming it "the festival that sells out ... by not selling out". In 2011 Beautiful Days was pronounced "Best Family Festival" by the UK Festival Awards, later winning the "Grass Roots Festival Award" in 2015, as well as the "Best Medium Festival" award from FestivalKidz the same year. Every festival has sold out in advance; although the 2020 festival was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The current capacity is 17,500.

## History

The Levellers began the festival at Escot Park in 2003, after a previous venture (the Green Blade Festival) ran into licensing difficulties. The Levellers' singer Mark Chadwick explained the thinking behind the ethos of the new festival in an interview with eFestivals
   "The whole reason for doing it is that many festivals are shit. They just haven't got that right element of cultural exchange. We're trying to get that 'weirdness' back into festivals, which is the whole point of doing it ... as soon as the corporate hand sticks its tiniest bit in, they're fucked."
The festival is held on the penultimate weekend of August, which until 2017 was the same weekend as the now defunct V Festival; Chadwick stated that although this was not originally deliberate, he liked it because "the ethos of the festival is (the) antithesis of V."

## Musical styles

Beautiful Days has a more diverse range of musical artists than many other festivals. Headline artists have included reggae (Lee "Scratch" Perry, The Wailers), alternative rock (James, Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine), punk (The Stranglers, The Pogues), post-punk (Killing Joke, Public Image Ltd), country rock (Steve Earle), folk rock (Frank Turner), dance (Leftfield), gothic rock (The Sisters of Mercy) and blues (Seasick Steve). A number of acts from outside the US and UK which may be less familiar to festival crowds are booked each year; in recent years these have included Tinariwen (Mali), Seeed (Germany), Katzenjammer (Norway), Dubioza kolektiv (Bosnia) and Hoffmaestro (Sweden). Traditionally, The Levellers open the festival with an acoustic set in the Big Top on Friday afternoon, and close it by headlining the main stage on Sunday, followed by a firework display.

## Stages

The first two festivals were held over two days (Saturday and Sunday) and utilised two stages, named the Main Stage and the Big Top. In 2005 it became a three-day festival with the addition of bands playing on the Friday, and has since expanded the number of stages. Between 2012 and 2018 there were six main stages; the two mentioned above, plus the Little Big Top, the Bimble Inn, the Bandstand and the Theatre Tent, the main stage and Big Top hosting the majority of established acts, with the Bimble Inn and Bandstand showcasing lesser known acts. The Little Big Top is primarily dance-oriented, whilst the Theatre tent provides theatre, cabaret, comedy and children's acts. In 2019 the Bandstand was removed to make way for a larger Theatre Tent, with some acoustic acts performing in the Fiddler's Arms.

## Facilities

Beautiful Days has the usual range of festival facilities. There are three bars - with Levellers-related names (Hope Tavern, Fiddler's Arms and Dirty Davey's), which are run by the local Otter Brewery, numerous food stalls, and a shop run by the village shop from nearby Talaton. There is a large children's area with activities and workshops run by the Majical Youth Theatre, along with child-friendly performances in the Theatre Tent. There are camping sections, including a family section and a disabled section, and a large area for camper vans and other live-in vehicles.

## Festival details

| Year | Date | Main Stage Headliners | Big Top Headliners | Notes/Reference |
| 2003 | 16-17 August | Lee "Scratch" Perry, The Levellers | Senser, Justin Sullivan | |
| 2004 | 21-22 August | The Stranglers, The Levellers | System 7, Show of Hands | |
| 2005 | 19-21 August | Michael Franti & Spearhead, The Wonder Stuff, The Levellers | Chas & Dave, Steeleye Span, Billy Bragg | |
| 2006 | 18-20 August | Killing Joke, Echo & the Bunnymen, The Levellers | Hayseed Dixie, Julian Cope, Alabama 3 | |
| 2007 | 17-19 August | Gogol Bordello, KT Tunstall, The Levellers | Skaville UK, Show of Hands, The Damned | |
| 2008 | 15-17 August | Squeeze, Supergrass, The Levellers | Brakes, Salsa Celtica, Los Albertos | |
| 2009 | 21-23 August | Hawkwind, The Pogues, The Levellers | Seth Lakeman, Swans in Flight, The Blockheads | |
| 2010 | 20-22 August | The Wailers, James, The Levellers | Fairport Convention, Bellowhead, Shooglenifty | |
| 2011 | 19-21 August | Big Audio Dynamite, Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine, The Levellers | The Low Anthem, Oysterband, Salsa Celtica | |
| 2012 | 17-19 August | Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls, Public Image Ltd, The Levellers | Midlake, Seth Lakeman, Katzenjammer | |
| 2013 | 16-18 August | Ocean Colour Scene, Primal Scream, The Levellers | Clannad, Headmix Collective, Roy Harper | |
| 2014 | 15-17 August | Steve Earle and the Dukes, Seasick Steve, The Levellers | Tinariwen, Bellowhead, Devin Townsend | |
| 2015 | 21-23 August | Happy Mondays, Dropkick Murphys, The Levellers | Freeborn John, Wilko Johnson, Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain | |
| 2016 | 19-21 August | Leftfield, James, The Levellers | Billy Bragg, The Damned, Treacherous Orchestra | |
| 2017 | 18-20 August | Paul Heaton & Jacqui Abbott, Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls, The Levellers | Therapy?, Hayseed Dixie, Alison Moyet | |
| 2018 | 17-19 August | The Hives, Manic Street Preachers, The Levellers | Suzanne Vega, Calexico, Richard Thompson Electric Trio | |
| 2019 | 16-18 August | Skunk Anansie, Ziggy Marley, The Levellers | Songhoy Blues, Hothouse Flowers, Steeleye Span | |
| 2020 | 21-23 August | Travis, Flogging Molly, The Levellers | Hawkwind, Indigo Girls, Show of Hands | Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic |
| 2021 | 20-22 August | Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls, James, The Levellers | Hawkwind, The Lakeman Family Gathering Van der Graaf Generator | |
| 2022 | 19-21 August | Flogging Molly, The Specials, The Levellers | Beth Orton, The Imagined Village, Billy Bragg | |
| 2023 | 18-20 August | Suede, Primal Scream, The Levellers | The Dead South, Indigo Girls, The Rock Orchestra | |
| 2024 | 16-18 August | The Saw Doctors, Richard Ashcroft, The Levellers | Richard Hawley, Toyah Willcox & Robert Fripp, Fisherman's Friends | |
| 2025 (forthcoming) | 15-17 August | Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls, Sex Pistols and Frank Carter, The Levellers | TBC, Mercury Rev, Fantastic Negrito | |
* ↑ Although Senser were billed as the headliners, Mad Dog Mcrea played in the tent after them.
* ↑ "Freeborn John" was Rev Hammer's musical story of John Lilburne, performed by Maddy Prior, Sean Lakeman, Kathryn Roberts, Justin Sullivan and members of the Levellers
* ↑ The Damned were billed as the second band on the Big Top bill, but in the event played a much-extended headline set after Tricky pulled out at the last minute.
* ↑ The Lakeman Family Gathering consisted of Geoff Lakeman, Seth Lakeman, Kathryn Roberts & Sean Lakeman, Sam Lakeman and Cara Dillon. It was the first time they had all played on stage together in 25 years.

## Gallery

* Main Stage, 2006
* The Big Top stage, 2012
* The Bimble Inn, 2013
* View of the festival near the Big Top, 2012