Evolution Festival, UK
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Orange Evolution Festival | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Location(s) | Newcastle/Gateshead, England |
| Years active | 2005 - present |
| Founded by | |
| Date(s) | May Bank Holiday |
| Genre(s) | Rock, Alternative rock, Indie rock |
| Website | www.evolutionfestival.co.uk |
The Evolution Festival is a music festival held annually in venues across Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Gateshead, England since 2005. Its centre-piece is a two-stage event held on Spring Bank Holiday Monday at two sites beside the River Tyne, though the festival also incoporates a series of other performances at venues around Newcastle and Gateshead in the preceding week. It has previously been known as Orange Evolution and Freevolution.
[edit] History
The first festival, in 2005, consisted of a series of live music performances throughout Newcastle and Gateshead in the month of May. It was sponsored by the UK mobile phone network Orange and culminated on Bank Holiday Monday with a free three-stage event around the Spillers Wharf area of the Newcastle Quayside and the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead, headlined by Super Furry Animals and The Futureheads. Over the next two years the number of ancillary events decreased with more focus on the culminating event. The headliners in 2006 were The Proclaimers, HARD-Fi, Graham Coxon and Orson, whilst in 2007 they were Maxïmo Park, Echo and the Bunnymen, Simian Mobile Disco and Soulwax.
In 2008, the festival ended its sponsorship with Orange and rebranded itself as 'Evolution Festival', introducing a charge (of £3.00) for the Bank Holiday Monday festival for the first time. Some of this charge will be passed on to Wateraid, its official charity. The line up for 2008 includes The Streets, The Ghost Frequency, CSS, Kate Nash, New Young Pony Club, Lightspeed Champion, Hercules and Love Affair, Duffy, Glasvegas, Does It Offend You, Yeah?, The Whip and many others.
