We say happy bothdeh to Splendour; the festival celebrating ten years at Wollo Park this year...
Plenty of stuff kicked off in 2008: Princess Diana’s inquest finally wrapped up and blamed that pesky “paparazzi”, Heathrow opened a fifth terminal and caused chaos among the hippies, and the country issued a unanimous yelp when Woolworths announced it was closing.
However, in humble owd Hoodtown, the summer of 2008 saw some good news. The start of summat special. On a warm Saturday in mid-July, Wollaton Park opened its gates and thousands of people piled in, eagerly awaiting performances by Kate Nash, Paolo Nutini and The Charlatans.
That’s right, it’s been ten whole years since the team at DHP sat down with Nottingham City Council and said “It’s abaht time Notts had a festival to call its own.” We can’t quite believe where all the time has gone.
Highlights from the past decade of Splendour have included Dizzee Rascal, Blondie, Madness, and homegrown talent such as Jake Bugg and Saint Raymond, who both credit the fest for helping them on their way to the top.
Philip Mulhaire, Artist Liaison at DHP, sums it all up rather well. “People in Nottingham see it as ‘their festival’ and not something that’s just been parachuted in; there’s real pride in it. It’s always found space to encourage local talent, but it manages to do that on a bill that would grace one of the major national festivals.”
Over the years, Splendour has done bits for the Nottingham events calendar, and now welcomes nearly 30,000 attendees, which is a lot of sweaty boggers to cram into one field. This year, for the tenth birthday celebrations, we’re being treated to Paloma Faith as the headline act, along with a return from The Charlatans, and local dons Ady Suleiman and Nina Smith.
DHP’s main man and owner, George Akins, is well chuffed with the success of the festival, and rightly so: “I’m extremely proud to continue working on an event that means so much for Nottingham music,” he says. “I’m excited to see where the next ten years take us, and we’ll continue to work hard putting on a great event for the whole family."
Set Timeline
| 2008 | The first Splendour was a two-day event, and saw Kate Nash, Paolo Nutini and Notts-born Sam Beeton bring us chilled vibes. |
| 2009 | The city went barmy with a case of eighties Madness, and local lads Dog Is Dead made us all nuff proud. |
| 2010 | The Pet Shop Boys gorrus wanting to be West End Girls, and Liam Bailey found himsen a spot in the Courtyard. |
| 2011 | Global superstars Blondie graced the stage, and Jake Bugg made his Splendour debut alongside Gallery 47. |
| 2012 | The lineup took a grimey turn with the appearance of Dizzee Rascal, and we loved seeing Notts band Kappa Gamma. |
| 2013 | Mr Bugg finally earned himsen the top spot, and Saint Raymond and Rob Green began climbing up the ranks. |
| 2014 | It worra party and half when the Happy Mondays came to town, and Amber Run were well excited to be there |
| 2015 | The Specials got the whole of Notts rockin’ and rollin’, while the Confetti Stage hosted some hard rock from Ferocious Dog. |
| 2016 | Jess Glynne’s hair bounced all abaht the main stage, and local lads Super Furniture won us all over. |
| 2017 | It might have absolutely ratted it down, but it din't stop us swanning in to listen to Toneh Adleh Ahter Spandah Balleh. |
| 2018 | We've got some of the biggest names in pop music to look forward to, plus all the best local talent, and hopefully this belting weather will hold out. See you at the front. |
Splendour takes place at Wollaton Park on Saturday 21 July
Congratulations to our competition winner, Daniel Boddy, who bagged himsen two tickets to this year’s fest. Have a splendid time.
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