COMPETITION: Pure Festival

During the last decade, as the money in the music industry shifted away from record sales and towards live performance, it seemed as though the festival bubble would never burst. Once the pastime of only hardcore music fans or the seriously outdoorsy, festivals grew in popularity to the point where, for four months of the year, there were a handful to choose from every single week.

Unfortunately, it couldn’t last forever, and this year has seen a high number of cancellations due to sponsorship issues and dwindling ticket sales. There have been no high profile casualties as yet, but some of the events expunged from the calendar have had some well-known acts due to perform, such as Devon Rox (Funeral For A Friend), Ignition (Calvin Harris), First Days Of Freedom (Los Campesinos!) and Beacons (Jamie XX).

In such a saturated marketplace, you need a touch of ingenuity and a selling point to separate you from the crowd. That’s where events such as Pure Festival come in.

Pure Festival’s mantra is “Whisky, not wellies!” which already sets it apart from your traditional, three-days-in-a-field type arrangement. Firstly, there’s the whisky. True, it may not be the tipple you usually associate with live music, but Pure Festival have pushed the boat out and plan to have some of the biggest names in whisky available for tasting as well as expert opinion from renowned whisky guru, Dominic Roskrow. Oh, and did I mention that there’s a load of bands at the same time? Or that the whisky tasting is completely free?

Secondly, there’s the wellies, or rather, the lack thereof. The “Great British Summer” can never be relied upon for perfect festival-going weather, so Pure Festival is held inside, at The Garage in Islington. No need for suncream, no worries about wasps, and no traipsing back through ankle-deep mud to your flooded tent.

By now, you’re probably wondering who’s playing this two-day event. Saturday is headlined by Scandinavian duo The Raveonettes (to whom we once awarded a coveted Perfect 10), with Electric Soft Parade and London indie poppers Hatcham Social also in attendance. Sunday sees Fence Collective man James Yorkston top the bill, ably assisted by ex-Beta Band frontman Steve Mason and Smoke Fairies.

Pure Festival takes place on 24th and 25th September at The Garage and No Ripcord are going to be there. What’s more, you could be there too. The kind people behind the event have given us a pair of tickets to give away. Email your answer to the following question along with your name, address and contact telephone number to [email protected] before Saturday 17th September and you could be in with a chance of winning.

What country are Pure Festival headlines, The Raveonettes, from?

For more information, visit www.purefestival.com.