Downs festival 2018 speakers lineup announced

The Downs festival is confronting its predominantly male music lineup head-on as part of a series of talks, panel debates and discussions at this year’s festival on September 1.

With Noel Gallagher’s High-Flying Birds, Paul Weller, Goldie and Orbital among the major bookings, ‘Gender and Equality at Music Festivals’ is set to be a salient subject.

“Across the UK festival scene this year the issue of a lack of female artists has been highlighted – not least at The Downs where the big headliners are all male-led bands,” a festival statement says.

“When it became clear that the female headliners the organisers wanted could not play, a number of up-and-coming female bands were invited to be part of the lineup.

“Was that the right thing to do? Should a female headliner have been booked even if it wasn’t a good ‘fit’ musically?”

The Information Area at this year’s Downs festival will be in partnership with The Big Issue, with guest speakers including political comedy stars Shappi Khorsandi, Matt Winning and Harriet Kemsley Anastasia Dedyukhina, Femi Oluwole and Solomon OB.

Bristol charities exhibiting in The Information Tent will include Help Bristol’s Homeless, Avon Gorge and Downs Wildlife Project Trust, Protect our NHS, Unseen UK, Humans for Rights Network, Frank Water, ABC Aid Box Community, Zero West, Caring in Bristol, Freedom of Mind and Feed the Homeless.

These are the other debates taking place:

Brexit 2019 (What The F*ck is Going On?)
What happens next with Brexit? What does ‘Brexit means Brexit’ mean? What is the role the media has to play and is there any way back from the decision? Are the doom merchants right or is this some sort of glorious opportunity?

Community Rebirth: How can grass-roots organisations make a real difference?
Political activist and writer George Monbiot said: “through local initiatives we can regenerate our culture and make politics relevant again”. In this panel discussion the people who are trying to put this ethos into action in Bristol will come together to look at how we fight the twin problems of divisiveness and apathy.

Bristol’s Homelessness Problem: Continued
A follow-up to last year’s thought-provoking debate on the same subject, the plight of those living homeless will be revisited. What, if anything, has changed since last year’s festival? The panellists from 2017 will be invited back to join new speakers to examine this ever-present challenge.

Social Networks, Technology and Mental Health
Thanks to social media and new technology, we are all supposed to be more connected than ever – so why is isolation such a big issue? How is the mental health of young people, in particular, being affected? How can we reach out to the lonely and how do we stop technology taking over our lives.

The Downs festival takes place on the Downs on September 1 2018. Adult tickets, priced £49.50 and children aged 5-12 tickets priced £15 are now on sale. For more information, visit www.thedownsbristol.com.

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