On the final afternoon of Standon Calling, Melanie C can’t quite gauge the age range of the crowd before her. “I don’t think many of you are old enough to know my early work, are you?” asks the former Spice Girl. She’s as right as she is wrong – because Standon Calling is as much for the kids as it is for their parents, grandparents and so on. Even the family dog is welcome. The festival’s clientele is a curious combination that sees tweens bopping to the Eighties synth bangers of The Human League and their grandparents getting down to the lusty, queer pop of Years and Years less than 24 hours later.
What began as a garden barbecue for festival founder Alex Trenchard’s birthday in the early 2000s is now a major event that brings 17,000 people to the Hertfordshire countryside every June. This year marks Standon Calling’s 17th anniversary and it’s clear that in the nearly two decades that have passed, this festival has truly shed its “small-town” roots. It’s multidimensional enough to give larger festivals a run for their money. Like a mini-Glastonbury, the festival offers poetry workshops, hip-hop karaoke, sound baths, gourmet dining experiences, tarot readings, comedy sets. Even a dog show.
