VICKY HUNGERFORD
The Bloodstock Open Air director explains how the UK’S biggest metal festival is going even bigger for 2021
How gutted were you having to postpone Bloodstock?
“I cried. I don’t mind saying it. It’s like the worst heartbreak. In 20 years, I’ve never not had Bloodstock and I can’t imagine an August where it’s not there. I completely understood why – that wasn’t why I burst into tears – but it was the thought of something so horrible happening to the world. In the grand scheme of things in gigs and events, people’s safety is important, but people get so much joy and mental health out of going to gigs, festival and music. It was the worst feeling.”
How did you manage to rebook the majority of this year’s line-up for 2021?
“It was a hellishly bad headache! Unfortunately Behemoth have other plans, which is likely to happen because this is uncharted territory for all of us, but we’ve got some cracking potential replacements for their headliner. All this year’s bands were incredibly supportive, as of course they would be. We have over 90% uptake of bands rolling over to next year wanting to be part of our 20-year anniversary.”
And you’re adding an extra day next year…
“You’ll be able to come on site from 11am-12pm Wednesday lunchtime to set up early. We’ll have entertainment and bands playing on Wednesday night, too. On Thursday, we’ll start with bands from 10am with a full day of entertainment and all sorts of things planned, so we’re making it huge! We’re adding an extra 15-16 bands to our normal number, and anybody who’s already bought a ticket or buying one up until the end of August is getting that day for free.”
Could this be a permanent extra day?
“Everyone’s asked us for so long why we haven’t made our festival five days, so this year we just went, ‘Fuck it, let’s give them an extra day.’ It costs us considerably more money for the extra infrastructure, security and everything so it’s about sticking to the budget and the few internal wrangles to make sure everything works. When you look at the fans’ faces when you tell them there’s an extra day, it’s like handing someone a puppy and then making them give it back. If the fans love it and it’s a success, why wouldn’t we look at doing it each year?”