All Tomorrow's Parties call time on UK holiday camp festivals

Respected British independent festival promoter All Tomorrow's Parties has announced that they are to calling time on their much-loved holiday camp festivals after 14 years.

The festival will bow out with two weekend festivals this November - both under the moniker 'End Of An Era' - to take place at Camber Sands holiday park, in Essex, UK.

The first weekend will take place 22 - 24 November in conjunction with Spanish festival Primavera Sound, and will feature Television performing their classic 1977 album Marquee Moon plus Dinosaur Jr. Les Savy Fav, múm, Oneohtrix Point Never, BEAK> and more.

The second weekend - which will happen 29 Nov - 1 Dec - will be curated by newly reformed art rockers LOOP along with The Pop Group, 23 Skidoo, Fennesz, Edan and others.

ATP started hosting weekend festivals at the Pontins Camber Sands holiday park in 1999; hosting the Bowlie Weekender curated by Scottish indie icons Belle & Sebastian. Since then the promoters have run multiple weekend events each year, both in the UK and internationally, generally curated and headlined by an iconic band or independent music organisation.

ATP also hosts a variety of inner city gigs and festivals internationally, which they will continue to do.

All Tomorrow's Parties founder Barry Hogan says "When we started all this fourteen years ago, we had no idea how a festival curated by a single artist and based in a family holiday camp would play out. It was a mad idea that somehow came to fruition helped by the fact that people were looking for something different from the overpriced conveyor belt corporate rock sponsor-fests that populate the British summer.

"Looking back we have so many great memories - where else would you find Iggy Pop, Matt Groening, Patti Smith or Nick Cave holed up in a basic chalet at a Pontins' Holiday Camp? The support from the artists and festival-goers alike has been incredible but it's time to move on and look towards the future, it may also be time to let Camber Sands rest in peace!'

Si Truss

I'm Editor-in-Chief of Music Technology, working with Future Music, Computer Music, Electronic Musician and MusicRadar. I've been messing around with music tech in various forms for over two decades. I've also spent the last 10 years forgetting how to play guitar. Find me in the chillout room at raves complaining that it's past my bedtime.