Festival tips and tricks from Boundary Festival Co-Director, Luke Ralph
Boundary Festival is back and bigger than ever. I spoke to co-director Luke Ralph about what’s new to Brighton’s biggest electronic dance festival and how attendees can prepare for their greatest weekend yet.
Even if you’ve only been keeping half an eye on the club and dance music scene in Brighton, it’s pretty likely that you’ve heard of Boundary Festival. It’s been booming EDM and D&B from Stanmer Park since 2016, and this year Brighton’s only capitol-F-festival is returning on the 24th September.
Don’t let that intimidate you, Boundary Fest prides itself on being accessible to all listeners. ‘We’re the official end of fresher week party for both Brighton and Sussex Uni, so you’ve got thousands of students guaranteed to turn up. With that, obviously we have to be aware of our audience. Some of the other festivals might book artists that are for people who might have been listening to drum and bass or house music for 15 years and expect to see certain artists’. While Luke is quick to remind me that this year’s lineup ‘still ticks those boxes’, ‘we try to make it a little bit more accessible’ by including the local DJ’s that any local club-goer would recognise.
According to Luke, having so much of the crowd made up of festival newbies is what makes it so special. ‘We get such an excitable crowd that the energy levels are so high, we’ve never had any trouble. I’ve been to other shows where there’s been what I call a moody atmosphere. Maybe I’m biased, but I’ve never ever experienced that with boundary’.
Like every other annual event, the past view years of lockdowns and government regulations have been tricky for Boundary. After having to cancel their 2020 festival ‘in 2021 we were quite fortunate that boundary got to go ahead. But right up until two weeks before we were still really nervous because the news was still changing every single week’.
Luke describes the moment they opened their gates in 2021 as his ‘best moment’ of Boundary so far. With queues that had started since eleven a.m. and crowds of friends finally reunited, ‘it felt a little bit surreal.’
This summer’s Boundary should be the most exciting yet. Not only are they showcasing artists including Hybrid Minds and Skepsis, but with their capacity reaching 20,000 they’re also added a brand new area and stage. ‘That stage means we could showcase like a new sound – we’re showcasing some really exciting new artists. It’s like a new sound which I call like New UK-G which is quite garage-y, but it’s like quite happy, like quite happy garage’.
With so many new acts and so many newbies, here are Luke’s top tips for attendees:
- Dress appropriately
Given that Boundary is right at the end of festival season, maybe it’s no surprise that some attendees forget the fickleness of England’s late summer weather. ‘Last year’ Luke highlights ‘it was foggy and misty in the morning and then by the time we opened it was bright, bright sunshine and extremely hot all day’. So opt for those light layers.
2. Take the shuttle bus
According to Luke, ‘sometimes you can tell that at the end of the festival people haven’t really planned how they’re getting home, and there are some 2000 thousand people in the same boat’. Luke’s advice? Get the free shuttle that runs in the city centre – ‘there’s 15 buses on rotation, so it’s really quick. It’s definitely the fastest way to get off site and it’s included in your ticket’.
3. Be prepared to spend all day there
Those who have been to festivals before will tell you, ‘going in and out will take you hours’. Luckily, this year Boundary fest has 25 different world street venders, their biggest fun fair yet, and plenty of free water, so spending a full day out in Stanmer Park shouldn’t be an issue.
4. Agree a meeting point
With thousands of festival-goers attempting to ring their friends, phone signal can get pretty dodgy at any festival. As soon as you go into the festival ‘agree a meeting point with your friends so that you’re not relying on technology’.
5. Pace yourself
We all have that friend whose so excited to see their favourite artist that they start pre-ing at breakfast, and are comatose by the time they’re on stage. Not a good look. ‘It’s a long day, so don’t get too drunk early on’, Luke advises.
Get your tickets for Boundary festival 2022 here.
Words by Kate Bowie
