With headliners such as Honey Dijon, Midland, DJ Stingray and Call Super, there’s no doubt that there’s going to be a lot of sweating taking place at stalwart Nottingham promoter Wigflex’s debut festival. However, the recent announcements outlining panel discussions, workshops and art installations hint that there’s much, much more than just sore feet to be gained from the most exciting community gathering to hit Notts this year.
Even if losing yourself to ridiculous beats isn’t quite your cup’o’tea, the jam-packed schedule of events taking place the day before the music starts on Sunday 5 May invites anyone with a curious mind and a thirst for goodness to come along for the warm-up.
No one can summarise better than the crew themselves, stating on a recent Facebook announcement:
Back when the idea for the festival first came about we wanted to make sure we were using the platform to celebrate more than just the music, as a kind of post-Brexit utopia void of all the fuckeries that’s just about being creative, being nice to each other and having fun. And to help us on this mission we’ve invited some of the best minds in the game to host talks, workshops, creative drop-ins and loads more; making up a full day full of events that are free to everyone (not just ticket holders) and all hosted right next to each other in the city centre making it a one stop Flex shop the day before the main event.
Cheers to that.
Right then. With so many announcements to digest, utilising over 15 of Nottingham’s unique spaces in the process, we’ve split them up into easy to manage chunks. There’s sure to be something to tickle yer pickle amongst this lot…
The Talks
A series of discussions are set to take place across multiple venues over the full weekend, ranging from Rough Trade to the National Justice Museum.
A Retrospective of Women in Soundsystem and Pirate Radio
When: Saturday 4 May
Feat: Shannen SP in conversation w Jlte (BOSS - Black Obsidian Sound System)
Where: Rough Trade
A Conversation with Paris Lees
When: Saturday 4 May
Feat: Vogue journalist and Nottingham born Paris Lees
Where: National Justice Museum
Womxn of Music Business - Industry Panel presented by WXMB 2
When: Saturday 4 May
Feat: Outer Agency founder Carin Abdula. Float and Float PR founder Sofia Ilyas (previously at Erased Tapes) and Co-founder of POLY Agency Keira Sinclair. Hosted by WXMB 2
Where: National Justice Museum
Conversations Surrounding Consent and Club Culture
When: Saturday 4 May
Feat: Survivors Trust ambassador and Nottingham dancefloor regular, Erika Leadbeater
Where: Rough Trade
Manufacturing Authenticity with Tusk Wax & Is it Balearic?
When: Saturday 4 May
Feat: Tusk Wax in conversation with Coyote from This is Balearic? about the continuing relevance of vinyl
Where: FourFour DJ Academy
Developing New Talent With Future Bubblers
When: Sunday 5 May
Feat: Giles Peterson, Yasmin Lacey and Congi
Where: National Justice Museum
The Experiences
Visual Wizardry from Multimodal
Regular Wigflex collaborator Multimodal will be taking over the Nottingham Contemporary, hosting two visual installations, most notably Strange Attractor.
Virtual Reality and Secret Cinema
There’s also a virtual reality simulation, custom-built and offering a totally unique experience for each individual, created by digital artist Lewis Hackett; all housed within one of the city’s most thumping basements that comes complete with its own secret cinema concealed within its walls...if you can find it.
Introduction to Wigflex Studios
The festival will mark the launch of the brand's new residence, kitted out with a bespoke synth den and production suite that boasts breath-taking panoramic views of the city, as well as an intimate dance floor that many of us are yet to be introduced to – until now.
Scented Sensory Chills at Fast City
A chill out destination, inspired by inspired by Wigflex's forthcoming EP of the same name by Son Of Philip.
This fully relaxing, immersive zone will be pumped full of a bespoke Wigflex City Festival scent that we can’t wait to shove up our beak. There’ll also be plenty of beanbags to sit back on and enjoy the installation by local architect Will Bradley that will be beamed onto the ceiling, and it’s decked out with a four point soundsystem too. Good job, because we hear some secondary ambient sets are on offer there from headliners including James Holden, Call Super and Midland to soothe our souls.
The other music arenas they’re cooking up have something a bit special in store too, but we’ll reveal more on that later…
The Workshops
Screen Printing Workshop with Dizzy Ink
When: Saturday 4 May
Feat: Nottingham’s risograph masters, Benjammin Kay and Craig Proud
Where: The Carousel
Healing Through Nature: An Education on Plant Medicines
When: Saturday 4 May
Feat: Medicine woman, energy healer, sacred space holder and mentor, Shardai Lynn
Where: FourFour DJ Academy
When: Saturday 4 May
Feat: Ableton live masterclasses, Allen & Heath Demo stations, Pioneer DJ suites, Korg Demo Stations, Modular Synth demos and workstations, Independent label Fair, Synthetic Audio workstations
Where: FourFour DJ Academy, duh.
The Music
While music isn’t the sole focus of this side of the festival, the surrounding culture is undoubtedly an underlying theme and it would be silly to overlook the stellar bookings.
We’ll let the names do the talking in this full lineup below, featuring both local and international acts, and a number of artists who you may recognise from previous Wigflex parties:
Honey Dijon
Gilles Peterson
Midland
Avalon Emerson
DJ Stingray
James Holden & The Animal Spirits (Live)
Young Marco
Call Super
Yazmin Lacey (Live)
Shanti Celeste
Bufiman (Live)
Djrum
DJ Slimzee ("00-04" set)
Eris Drew
Peach
SPFDJ
Max Cooper (Live)
rRoxymore
Machine Woman (Live)
CCL
Shannen SP
Stick that ridiculous lot in your pipe and smoke it.
Wigflex City Festival takes place on Sunday 5 May, with a schedule of talks and workshops on Saturday 4 May that are free to attend. For those wishing to make a contribution to the day’s events, Wigflex will be giving 100% of all donations to local domestic abuse charity, Equation.
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