Why 2000Trees Could Be The Festival of The Year?

This week I go to 2000Trees and look at why I'm so excited to be going to this festival for the first time.

2023 has seen an amazing start to the festival season in the UK with Download putting on their 20th rendition of the festival and celebrating in style with the like of Metallica, Slipknot and Bring Me The Horizon, Glastonbury once again putting on a Legendary weekend of music with music icons Arctic Monkeys, Gun N Roses and Sir Elton John. I, unfortunately, could not be at these events. Still, there was one I can go to this year which has a lineup which gets me very excited and is an independent festival which is something I've always wanted to try out rather than going to the more commercial festivals. So could 2000Trees compete with the major festivals and can they be one of the best of the year?

What is 2000Trees?

As described on their website 2000Trees is a festival created by "festival veterans after attending all the main industry events over a decade". This festival focuses on "A sense of community, common culture, kinship and collective wellbeing". I found out about this festival thanks to the YouTube group TPD TV who have been going to the festival for the last few years and captured thrills and spills from the weekends and their videos are what got me interested in the festival as the festival looks like such a good time.

This year I've finally acted on my interests and got myself a ticket for the weekend so let's go over who going to be there this year, what you can do while you are there and why I think this festival will be the highlight of the summer

The line-up

The lineup for this year's edition of the festival is one of the best I've seen ever. Our first headliner is a festival exclusive and see's a band return to the live scene after four years but they have returned with a new name. Soft Play (formally known as Slaves) is a punk rock band from Kent that has played at some of the biggest festivals as well as supported bands like Foo Fighters and did a collab with the Gorillaz. The band retrun after a few years away from the band where both Issac Holman and Laurie Vincent worked on their solo project and had their hardships along the way. But the band are back and they are ready to cause some chaos on the main stage. Where they belong.

Your Friday night headliner is a heavy metal band who has been around since 1998 (The year I was born!!) Bullet For My Valentine has enjoyed an extraordinary career with three million albums sold worldwide, played at some of the biggest festivals around such as Download Festival and Reading and Leeds and has the record for the most wins in the best British band award at the Kerrang Awards, Its fair to say that Bullet are one of the biggest British metal bands around right now. Their latest self-titled album has also seen the band return to their heavier sound which has pleased critics and fans alike so expect some heavy rifts and screams on Friday as Bullet will for sure tear apart the main stage

The final headliner is one that I have spoken about a lot in previous blogs and I have seen many times. Frank Carter and The Rattlesnakes have only gone from strength to strength since their formation in 2015. The band formed after lead singer Frank Carter left his previous projects Gallows and Pure Love and since then they have not looked back. Supporting the likes of Biffy Clyro, Bring Me The Horizon and Foo Fighters, having four top twenty albums in the UK Album Charts and having some of the craziest shows ever seen such as their 23 live in Brixton Academy, which saw them perform their whole discography in one show. Do not be shocked when Frank, Dean, Tom and Gareth bring that same energy when they bring 2000Trees to an end on Saturday night.

What about the other bands performing at Trees you may ask? There are a range of bands performing at this festival. From well-established bands such as Skindred, Egles Of Death Metal and Electric Six to brand new bands artists making a name for themselves such as Witch Fever, Bob Vylan and Lambrini Girls, there is something for every rock, punk and metal fan at this festival. For me, Skindred is the band to watch this year. There are some fantastic bands on this year's line up but Skindred are one of the best live bands in the UK at the moment and will surely bring their energy to 2000Trees and put on another incredible set like they have been doing at festivals like Download this year. Also if you're coming down on Wednesday then I implore you to check out Press To Meco who will be playing their final gig as a band. They are an awesome band and this will be your final chance to see them so don't miss out!

What else is happening?

It's not only live music that is taking place at 2000Trees but there is also a range of activities that are taking place. Over on The World stage, you have a range of stuff taking place such as live podcasts from the like of On Wednesdays We Wear Black and Sappenin, Book clubs, Poetry readings and even a pub quiz so if the music is not doing it for you, then you have a ton of activities to keep you entertained all weekend long. There are also some family-friendly activities for the kids as well such as the forest school which will be around to teach kids how to build a fire climb trees and many more. There is also a play area near the main stage meaning that if you have your kids with you at the festival, then you can still go and see your favourite bands and make sure that they are in a safe space. Previous years have also had many activities around the festival such as crazy golf and axe throwing so hopefully this year there will be plenty of activities which we can do in between the music. Finally, there will be a silent disco every night at the festival which will feature some of the biggest names in the alternative scene such as BBC Radio One DJ Alyx Holcombe, Sophie K and Yasmin Summan for On Wednesday We Wear Black, Hang The DJ, Jon Mahon from Kerrang and many more! From Dusk till Dawn, Its fair to say we are going to be entertained

Food and Drink

2000Trees also uses independent food vendors across the whole festival and has a range of different foods from fried chicken to Gyros. the festival also caters to any diet or needs so there will be something for everyone. There will also be a great selection of drinks with Purity Brewery Co and Westons being present at the festival. You can also bring your drinks into the arena at 2000Trees however the festival has asked fans to buy beers on-site to support the festival wherever they can. Times are tough this year for sure but I will make sure that I grab some beers from the festival to keep it independent.

Accessibility

As many of you will know, Accessibility is very important for me and my mates when it comes to festivals and 2000Trees seem to make sure that everyone can come to Trees and have a good time. the festival operates a policy which keeps the festival free from harassment and discrimination so the hope is that everyone will feel welcome to come along. The festival also offers companion tickets, access platforms and access camps so its means that anyone with any disabilities can experience trees in all its glory without missing out or feeling outcasted. We have had some bad experiences with access this year as some of you may have read in my previous blogs but I have confidence that 2000Trees will deliver on their disabled access.

So there you go, my thought on the upcoming 2000Trees festival, now it's time to get to the fields and enjoy what might be the best four days of the summer!