Farmer Phil's Festival


Farmer Phil's Festival is a music festival that takes place in early August at Near Gatten Farm, near Ratlinghope, Shropshire. The festival was founded by, and is managed by the eponymous Philip Harding and was first held in 1998.

History

Early festivals were simply a marquee in a corner of one of the farm's fields. The festival has since grown to its current capacity of around 2,000, and expanded from a two to three-day festival in 2009. The festival proper takes place from Friday to Sunday, although the festival is unusual in that it allows festival-goers to camp for the entire week before, from Monday onwards, with occasional musical acts events during that time.

Musical styles

The festival previously featured a number of musical styles. Notable acts up to 2017 included rock, folk punk, ska, folk rock, blues, dance, world music and singer-songwriters.
Since 2018, the festival has mainly concentrated on a few retro headliners, with a large number of local and cover bands.

Stages

Originally a single stage event, a second stage was added in 2007. A comedy/cabaret marquee was also added shortly afterwards.

Awards

Farmer Phil's Festival targets itself as a family-friendly one, and has won Festival Kidz "Best Tiny Festival" award twice, in 2015 and 2017.