BALTER FESTIVAL
Chepstow Racecourse. Fri 31 May-Sun 2 June
Balter is something else. If festivals are where the normals go to cut loose, Balter is where the loose go to get lairy; the tents pulling up on the border every summer like a raver’s carnival, each pointing their subwoofers at the other.
Far smaller than fellow harem-trouser haunt Boomtown, Balter pounce straight for the hard and the underground when drawing up their line-up posters. Those colourful tents (10 stages this year) cover the spectrum of bassline, tekno, drum‘n’bass, 4/4, dub, and gypsy ska-punk in a precision strike on bringing the essentials at the heart of mixing together a hard skank. There’s two kinds of people wandering around at Balter – the kind that know exactly where they’re going to be on the site minute-by-minute at the time of writing, on the day clutching their circled programmes as they stomp around in front of the speakers; the other type stumbles through the staging area ears-first, cutting desire-paths to what sounds good.
The organisers pride themselves on the slog of tuning their roster with the cream of the underground. Henge are back again, with a higher place on the poster this time, alongside Dub Phizix & Strategy, The Mouse Outfit, Black Sun Empire, Chester P, and a cascade of the almost unheard-of that drag in the ‘almost’ crowd from the world over for some seriously hard nights. Not to give the impression that It’s not all in the name of a bit of fun: if the weekend had a mission, it would be silliness at no matter the cost, and the Balter community is happy to oblige.
The weekend is known for its cheeky sideshow quirks and spontaneous pop-up happenings that are often courtesy of the frenetic, friendly weirdos the fest attracts, bringing an untamed free party energy from home to outdo the neighbours and then take it back again with them on the Monday. They give the whole thing a kind of party-out-of-bounds touch, without any expensive Ming vases to smash or neighbours in nightcaps to rap on the door. Balter is funny and strung-out and a little bit mental, and seeks like-minded souls for a bit of a goer.
words Jason Machlab
Tickets: £100-£130. Info: www.balterfestival.com