In photos: Boomtown 2024 after dark
- Text by Ben Smoke
- Photography by Bekky Calver
The sun has barely set on Boomtown Fair as we dance at the Bad Apple Bar in the centre of the festival site. A 212 x Bonkers mashup is blasting out of the speakers at the ‘Celebrity Beef’ event, run by ‘DJ Gaylord’. On stage, a drag dressed as Donald Trump, complete with ear bandage, is slowly stripping. Next to them, another performer dressed as Azealia Banks in her ‘digging up and cooking her dead cat’ era, complete with machete, dances along with the music, using the weapon to gesture as they lip sync ‘I guess that cunt getting eaten’. Very few, if any, of these words are in the bible I think to myself as I watch on.
Outside of the venue, a mobile DJ booth, (transported by bike) has pulled up. 5 people gather round it and dance to filthy Drum and Bass. Crowds amble past them with groups of people dressed like traffic cones weaving through, eager to get across the site to catch DJ EZ’s set at the Origin stage. The stage, towards the centre of the site’s iconic bowl, is a cross between an Aztec temple and laser show, complete with mycelium and mushrooms growing up the side of it, and is shrouded in fog.
This is Saturday night of the 14th iteration of Boomtown and it is every bit as mad as you would hope. The festival, built around the idea of an alternate reality, features different districts, each with their own individual flavour and look. There is a storyline and theme that runs through each festival, shaping the direction of the ‘town’ for the next event. Actors roam each district, interacting with festival goers who themselves often come in varying shades of fancy dress. Alongside intricate and expansive sets, it comes together to create a molten pool of imagination and silliness, soundtracked by relentless duff duff of bass echoing around the Hampshire countryside. No more is this clear than after dark. We sent photographer Bekky Calver to capture the action.
You might like
Boomtown 2023: portraits of the people behind the madness
Photographer Alice Louisa captures the passionate organisers, dedicated artists and devoted attendees that make up the UK’s most extraordinary festival.
Written by: Alice Louisa
Sepia splashed memories of Britain’s ’90s squatting and free party scene
Bygones — Moving into a Hackney squat at the age of 19, Tom Hunter spent years living on London’s edges, while documenting the vibrant, creative community and culture that it enabled. Huck’s art director Sam White chats to him about the freedom that existed, the collectivism and what’s been lost over the decades since.
Written by: Samuel White
A melancholic portrait of youth, rebellion and womanhood in Iran
And They Laughed At Me — Newsha Tavakolian has worked as a photographer all her adult life, as Iran underwent change, upheaval and conflict. Her new photobook explores the formative years of her eye and art amid generational strife, hope and disappointment.
Written by: Miss Rosen
The real life mermaids of Florida’s Weeki Wachee Springs
Old Florida — A relic of pre-Disney tourism in the state, the show – which sees women perform athletic underwater tricks in a natural spring – has been running since 1947. Jack Burke attends, while reflecting on the fragility and fantasy of old America.
Written by: Jack Burke
The intricate, clandestine art of Japan’s traditional tattoos
Irezumi — Having emerged during the Edo Period centuries ago, inking skin has long been associated the country’s working class, and particularly Yakuza. A new book by Manami Okazaki explores the history and deep meaning of the practice, as well as the horishi who dedicate their lives to the needle.
Written by: Isaac Muk
Road tripping across 1970s America
73 Trip West — In 1973, Larry Racioppo set out from Brooklyn to California, armed with a medium format camera. For the first time in over half a century, roadside photographs from his trip have been unearthed.
Written by: Miss Rosen
