There are so many reasons why if you are London based, you should pitch up at the OneTaste festival at the Bedford in Balham on Sunday. So in no particular order of importance, here is why;
It’s a festival that costs £10.00 (if booked in advance; £12.00 on the door). £10.00 gets you access to 3 floors, 5 stages and 45 acts. If you have ever attended a festival for less money, you must have scaled the fence to get in. And we don’t condone that! (And if you are one of the first 100 people through the door this Sunday, you get a goodie bag too – I normally get sunburn or welly rot at festivals so a goodie bag will make a pleasant change)
Speakers Corner Quartet
It’s a one day festival. (Starting at 1pm and wrapping up at midnight). This means that you get to see as many artists as you normally would in a three day festival, but without the wasted long hours spent queuing for a portaloo that doesn’t work, or searching for your tent – without a torch – in the wrong field (I’m not the only person that this has happened to, am I?)
There is not a Lady Gaga in sight; this is your chance to discover the delights of up and coming and fresh talent, whose skills lie in acoustic melodies, not lip synching and dance routines. OneTaste (who have previously been featured here) have the knack of discovering and promoting the best in the underground arts scene. One such graduate is Newton Faulkner, who performed at OneTaste’s first ever gig at The Bedford, five years ago. Three million sales later, he is returning to his alma mater this Sunday to take part in the festivals festivities.
Laura J Martin
You will be entertained in a myriad of different ways. As well as the musicians (which include Kate Tempest, Bridgette Amofah, Laura J Martin, United Vibrations, Ninja Tunes new signing Jono McCleery and Speakers Corner Quartet), there will be performances by poets, filmmakers, actors, DJ’s and dancers, as well as what OneTaste bill as ‘alternative thinkers and practitioners’; I guess we will have to wait and see what this entails. There will also be talks by the philosopher Timothy Freke, silly games courtesy of Bearded Kitten; naughty hijinks by the Antic Banquet crew (who were last seen at the Secret Garden Party) and a chance to watch – and participate in Sam Roddicks Bondage For Freedom installation.
Jono McCleery
The Bedford venue is a top place to spend a Sunday. Originally an old vaudeville establishment, it’s a perfect setting for the OneTaste merriment, and a great place to have a Sunday lunch, which can also be delivered to your table while you watch the performances. Good grub and a bottle of red is a preferable accompaniment to listening to live music then the usual greasy noodles and an expensive beer, don’t you think?
United Vibrations
The Festival will also be serving as a launch for the release of the OneTaste compilation, which can be found on iTunes from Monday 9th November. Lending their music and spoken word tracks to the compilation include the artists Mercury Prize nominees Portico Quartet (who will be debuting their unreleased track ‘Midnite Delite‘), as well as Jono McCleery, Nick Mulvey and Inua Ellams.
More information and tickets can be found at www.onetaste.co.uk or here. Hope to see you on Sunday!
[...] We wondered around lost for a bit, getting our bearings, found the bar and started to feel at home. One Taste is best described by Amelia’s Magazine. The Smithster knew a friend of a friend of The La De Dahs so went and checked them out in the [...]