| Location(s) | University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Years active | 2005 - present |
| Date(s) | June 12th 2007, June 10th 2008 |
| Genre | Music, Festival, Charity Event |
The Vale Festival, commonly abbreviated to Valefest, is a music festival that takes place on the campus of University of Birmingham, in Birmingham, England. Uniquely, it is planned, organised and largely staffed by volunteer students - it is believed to be the largest solely student-organised event in the UK. All proceeds go to charitable causes.
The 2008 event took place on 10 June. Organisers expected a sell-out event, with capacity crowds of up to 5,500 students. The theme for this year's festival is 'Water for Life' - more specifically, sustainable access to clean water and sanitation in the developing world. All proceeds from ticket sales, which was over £30,000 in 2007, will be donated to three charities: Play Pumps, WaterAid and PumpAid. The festival will boast five stages, over forty bands, performances, society events, an outdoor cinema, workshops, an official after-party and a wide variety of other features. The main-stage headliner will be Misty's Big Adventure.
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With the aim of both raising money and awareness for AIDS-related causes and addressing a death in live music on campus, the Birmingham University Stop AIDS Society tried to arrange a large festival at Guild building. The Guild of Students pulled out, deeming the event unfeasible. Simultaneously a much larger event was being planned on University, rather than student union, property - The Vale Festival. The Vale Festival team, an independent group of students and the Student Stop Aids committee joined forces. Local bands, student societies and the large team of volunteer organisers worked to make the event, held in the Vale student village, a substantial success. The chosen focus was the crisis in Sudan. £12,000 was raised, and the event was widely viewed as a major success.
The Vale Festival 2006 took place on the 6th June. Attended by over 3,900 students, and raising approximately £25,000 for two charities - UNICEF and SPW, for their HIV/AIDS projects in Kenya and Zimbabwe respectively - the event has been hailed as probably the biggest and best event ever to be staged at Birmingham University.[1]
Highlights of the day included performances from numerous bands, singers and DJs - Old School Tie, the Anomalies, First Rate, Vijay Kashore and the fantastic 360 headlined once again, pulling in a crowd of over 200 students which created an amazing end to a great line up of live bands. DJ, drumming and singing workshops also went on throughout the day, as did drama performances, healing spaces and many, many stalls run by student societies. The day culminated in an outdoor screening of 'The Constant Gardener', and three different rooms for the club night inside Shackleton Hall.
The 2007 festival was held on the 12th June, with just over 5,000 students on the day. The event aimed to raise awareness of the humanitarian effects of climate change on people in poorer nations. Vale Festival '07 supported two charities, Kids for Kids and Action Aid, and raised over £30,000.
The line-up was as follows:
Main Stage: The Anomalies, The Tommys, Laid Blak, Floors and Walls, Hobbit, Zombies of Ska (replaced Lazy J), Old School Tie, Friendly Fire, Stanley's Choice, University Gospel Choir Kids for Kids Chillout Tent: Transient Dreams, Two Spot Gobi, Yamit Mamo, Swing Manouche, Tanante, The Old Dance School, KTB, Kid-iD, Hannah Rhodes ActionAid Dance Arena: Deepgroove, Will Bailey, Aries, Far Too Loud, Joebot, Mikee Lazy, Hobbit & Bass6, Fat Gold Chain, DJ Shei[2]
Vale Festival 2008 took place on the 10th of June and had as successful attendance as 2007, reaching full capacity. The festival focussed on the issue of sustainable access to clean water in the developing world and raised £30,000 for WaterAid, Roundabout PlayPump and Pump Aid.
The main stage, dance tent and Hilltop Tent were headlined by Misty's Big Adventure, Andy Morris and Watch this Fire Spread respectively.
The festival takes months of planning. The event is organised by a central committee of about twenty students. The committee is non-hierarchical, meaning there is no single individual who is in charge of the event. The central committee is divided into sub-committees which take responsibility for different aspects of the festival, such as entertainments, student societies, promotions, decorations etc.