Fantazia
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Fantazia is a dance organisation based in the UK. Founded in 1991 by James Perkins, it was set up at a time when breakbeat hardcore was on the ascendent within the rave scene – having grown out of the previous subcultural music genre: Acid House.
Given the popularity and appeal of the music to a new generation of disaffected youth, the company, in line with the movement, grew quickly culminating in the company holding six large raves in 1992.[1] In terms of both the scale and number of events Fantazia promoted, no other UK based promoter has come close.
[edit] Raves/ Events
The following are just some of the major Fantazia's heyday events in the early 1990's :
• Fantazia New Year: 1991/ 92 at Westpoint Exhibition Centre, near Exeter. 8000 people;
• Second Sight: 22nd February 1992 at Westpoint Centre, Nr Exeter. 5000 people;
• Summertime: 15th May 1992 at Matchams Park Stadium, Bournemouth. 16,000 people;
• One Step Beyond: 25th July 1992 at Donnington Park. 25,000 people (Fantazia’s largest ever rave);
• Unforgettable Journey: 5th September 1992 at Quest, Wolverhampton;
• Fantazia New Year 1992/3 at Littlecote House, Hungerford, Wiltshire. 16000 people.
Other large scale events included: The Showcase, Second Sight, tours of The Hacienda, Barrowlands, Glasgow and also The Big Bang at the SECC, Glasgow in 1993.
As part of a general trend in the rave movement, not only were these events legal – but also particularly large. As above, Fantazia’s rave at Castele Donington was the largest outdoor rave to be held in the UK – with no fewer than 25,000 people.
Additionally, possibly following on from the Raindance events, Fantazia raves increasingly featured certain characteristics of theme parks and mainstream celebrations. For example, the Fantazia at Castle Donington included a stage dressed as a castle, a giant inflatable dragon and a large pyrotechnic/ firework display. However, these things should be seen as peripheral, as the music (and possibly the use of ecstasy) constituted the core of each event and the movement in general. At the Castle Donington event alone, over 60 DJs & PAs played throughout the night.
Unlike many other rave promoters in the early nineties, Fantazia filmed all their major events and released videos. These were generally successful in the charts. One particularly successful video, for example, was of the Big Bang New Year event (circa 94) which reached No. 2 - beaten only by Take That. This footage can still be seen on the company’s website and is available to license. This represents an interesting timeframe of an era that many people shaped and, at the same time, that influenced many people.
[edit] Changes: 1993 onwards
The company moved away from raves around 1993-94 as the regulatory environment becomes less favourable for organisations to put on large, outdoor, one off events e.g. councils refusing licenses and charging exorbitant licence application fees.[2] As a result, Fantazia focussed its energies on the recording side of the company – which had been founded to release the ground breaking Old Skool compilation The First Taste. From this grew the successful series The House Collection/Club Classics. These featured attractive, often fetish clad women, on the covers and were mixed by top House DJs like Jeremy Healy, Carl Cox and Paul Oakenfold. Regularly selling over 100,000 albums the company went on to sell many millions of records.
In 1997 the company held Fantazia: The Return of a Legend, at the G-Mex in Manchester. Once again this broke records as over 12,000 people made this the largest ever indoor House music event.
The next rave being held by the company will be held at Braehead Arena, Glasgow, on the 27th January 2007, and is expected to last up to nine hours.
The company still exists to this day and has a web site dedicated to their past activities as well as the whole rave and dance scene.
