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 the big chill 04: roundup
 to access audio and video on collective you need real player.It was all sunshine for The Big Chill’s tenth birthday. The Big Chill is 10 years old. Once a small Sunday afternoon club event in Islington, it has now grown into a three-day festival at Hereford’s Eastnor Castle, catering for 27,000 chilled out punters. “We’ve plugged away by word of mouth really,” explains the co-founder of the festival, Pete Lawrence. “Friends telling friends.” Congrats to Adrian Waite, winner of our Big Chill photo competition. It’s that friendly approach that underpins what is good about the Big Chill – the friendly family atmosphere and the beautiful, clean location. “It’s kind of more like a big garden party than a festival,” reckons Simon Green, aka Bonobo, who played with his six-piece band on Saturday. “There’s not that ugly element of people just falling over or getting covered in mud and all that sort of stuff.” Many of the punters agree. “It’s a bit like an extended picnic,” said one. “It’s a wonderful weekend of relaxing, chilling and drinking,” said another. “A festival for grown-ups,” said someone else. The location was what seemed to impress most people. “I think it’s the venues they choose,” says Dan Burridge of Broadway Project, when asked what was the best thing about The Big Chill. “Pete Lawrence and the guys who organize it have got an eye for locations. They always leave space for you to walk around in, and it’s never too crowded.” Pete agrees it’s an important part of the event. “We’ve changed a few things this year as it’s got bigger, but I think people really appreciate the chance to stretch out, and the space to think a bit and get away from the melee. People come for a weekend in the country and it’s a beautiful place to be.”  And, once again, the gods smiled on The Big Chill - the weather was fabulous. You couldn’t help but wonder, though, whether the event would have been such a success without the sunshine. “As an artistic event I kind of find it a bit bland,” says Kieran Hebden, better known as Four Tet. “I was at Glastonbury a couple of weeks ago and I saw such a wild variety of things. I find that very exciting, whereas The Big Chill is about one thing and I find that frustrating sometimes.” Others agreed that the festival wasn’t about rushing to see bands. “You don’t go for the music, you go for the atmosphere,” was one comment, though most thought that music was important to the event. “You can see some really good new, different acts. Not mainstream stuff but some quite diverse underground stuff,” said one person. “There’s a lot of good music,” agreed another. So will The Big Chill happen again next year? “I hope so,” says Pete. And judging by the relaxed look on many of the punters’ faces, so do they.
Matt Walton
The Big Chill 04 was at Eastnor Castle, Herefordshire, 30 July - 01 August 04.
big chill photo competition Thanks to everyone who sent us photos for the Big Chill competition this year. The competition has now closed.  see big chill photo competition - winners see big chill photo competition - gallery one see big chill photo competition - gallery twosee winning images from the big chill 03  big chill 2003 competition winnersview photos collective's big chill 04 screensaver To download our beautiful screensaver featuring Collective's pick of this year's Big Chill acts, simply click on the link below and save the file onto your hard drive. The screensaver should install itself, but if not you just need to double left click on the file once downloaded (so remember where you save it).  PC version (3.1/95/98/ME/NT/XP)mac OS 8/9mac OS XDisclaimer: The BBC has taken all reasonable care to ensure that this screensaver contain no errors, viruses or defects, however, the BBC does not warrant that this is the case. You are advised to ensure that you take precautions to protect your computer from virus infection. The BBC will not be liable for any loss or damage which you may suffer as a result of or connected to the use of the software.  conversations
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