WELSH WONDER

COLOUR CLASH MARK HOPKINS

We want to be Together

In It Together is a new festival set to open in Wales this June. Mark Hopkins, festival director, reveals all

I’ve wanted to do a big show with live music and camping for many years,” says Mark Hopkins, head of festivals and live music at Escape Records. “We’ve always created a show with one genre of music, but lockdown gave us time to develop the concept.”

The concept that Hopkins talks of is In It Together festival, which will debut this summer in Margam’s Old Park Farm, Wales. Taking place from June 3-5, In It Together is pitched as a multi-genre, family festival, which comes complete with a “Bring your Grandparents for free” initiative and five stages of music and entertainment.

CREDIBILITY AND CONFIDENCE

In It Together has been 18 months in the making. Hopkins and his colleagues spent a lot of time in 2020 planning shows that didn’t happen. “We thought the situation would improve and it didn’t. By the time we’d rescheduled our final show, we felt deflated. So, we thought let’s use this time to create an event and come out of the blocks with an amazing show.”

He continued: “We spent a long time planning. We presented the idea in September 2020, it was signed off by October 2020, we made offers on artists in February 2021 and we launched in September. People bought into our vision and what we were trying to do, and I think that our line up dictates your credibility in the market.”

According to Hopkins, the line-up is right; Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, Two Door Cinema Club, Clean Bandit, Armand Van Helden, and Tinie Tempah will perform at the festival. “We wanted to release details of In It Together earlier, but we wanted the right sentiment, so we held off,” Hopkins continued. “Everything had to be right. We needed our audience to go to events and get some confidence under their belt.”

TOGETHERNESS AND TICKET SALES

Ticket sales are going well and the event’s premises licence has been approved, Hopkins confirmed. The team hopes to attract a 40,000-strong crowd, comprised of young and old people, different races, genders, and sexualities. “The festival itself is born from and based around the ethos of a celebration of life, of freedom and of togetherness,” added Hopkins. “The past couple years have been an incredibly difficult time for all of us, with families around the world not being able to see their loved ones for longer than ever before. We’re taking the idea of a family festival that one step further, enabling families of all shapes and sizes to be able to join us for an incredible weekend at an extremely cost-effective price.”

Plans for In It Together include five stages, luxury camping options, a dedicated campsite for 16-17-year-olds, a separate quieter campsite for those who want to relax, “amazing décor” and “lots of surprises” to create an “experience that has never been done in Wales before”.

PROCUREMENT

Hopkins is responsible for procurement and has contracted SWG Events, Project Power, Tip Top Marquees, Streamline Leisure, Sunbelt Rentals, Skiddle, The Last Mile, and We Are The Fair to supply kit and services to In It Together. He explained that he tries to use the same suppliers for all his shows (Colour Clash, Inside Out and Party at the Park), believing in camaraderie, and said that other than one or two areas, he has booked all his infrastructure.

“I’ve done it really early because you have to have it done,” he said. “And we’ve done a multi-year deal with the farm.”

Hopkins has big plans for In It Together. By year three, he wants to grow the festival to 50,000. He admits it’s not a massive jump, but he will be happy with 10 per cent year-on-year growth.

Hopkins concluded: “We’re being ballsy, and we want to knock it out of the park.”