MAP FEST. Simon Saynor
Festivals. I love them. (Glastonbury ’89 is still talked about in hushed voices as ‘THE’ festival. I came away with a waistcoat suntan and a bodhran). I’ve dipped in and out since then, few more Glastonbury’s, Cropredy, Isle Of Wight a V or two and my most recent one Leeds 2012. I loved it but there’s no denying after a weekend attempting to sleep on what felt like a cobbled street, surrounded by the Crimean War and having to…. actually, let’s not talk about the toilets, I was ready for a bath, followed by a shower, a proper bed and something else to eat other than tempura. Don’t get me wrong, as I said I love festivals. I love camping. I love the camaraderie feel of a festival. I love the music. But maybe it’s the negatives (lack of sleep and general griminess) that have led to the huge increase in city festivals. Tramlines in Sheffield is now one of the biggest festivals in Europe with over 80 venues involved and well over a 1000 acts playing over the weekend. And
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you get to use proper toilets and sleep in a bed. The City festival is not a new concept but more and more are springing up every year and no selfrespecting city/town/village gets by without throwing a festival. Doncaster is no exception with MapFest about to celebrate it’s third year (August 29th and 30th). MapFest came about in 2012 when a group of venue managers, promoters and musicians put in a tender to run Doncaster Live only to be knocked back by the incumbent Mayor without their proposal being given serious consideration. With a let’s-do-theshow-right-here attitude MapFest was born – a festival for Music And People – MAP. Get it? Oh and they printed maps of Donny listing all participating venues and acts. 17 venues with over 80 acts playing all on one sunny day in August with no less than Charlotte Church headlining at The Leopard.