Creamfields
{{Short description|English annual dance music festival held in Cheshire}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2011}}
{{Coord|53.34|-2.63|display=title|region:GB_scale:20000}}
{{Infobox music festival
| name = Creamfields
| image =
| caption =
| location = Main location UK:
Winchester, Hampshire
(1998)
Liverpool, Merseyside
(1999–2005)
Daresbury, Cheshire
(2006–present)
For spin offs see here
| years_active = 1998–present
| founders = Cream
| organiser = Live Nation
| dates = North: August Bank Holiday Weekend
South: Late May Bank Holiday Weekend{{efn|group=upper-alpha|On its first year in 2022, Creamfields South took place during the Platinum Jubilee weekend in June.}}
| genre = Electronic dance music
| capacity = 70,000{{Cite web | url=https://www.consultancy.uk/news/amp/13576/top-10-largest-music-festivals-in-the-uk |title = Top 10 largest music festivals in the UK|date = 16 June 2017}}
| website = [http://www.creamfields.com/ Official website]
}}
Creamfields is an electronic dance music festival series founded and organised by British club promoter Cream, with its UK edition taking place on August Bank Holiday weekend, with a number of international editions held across various territories worldwide.
First held in 1998 in Winchester,{{Cite news|url=http://eletrovibez.com/blog/flashback-os-flyers-usados-na-divulgacao-das-festas-nos-anos-90/|title=Flashback: os Flyers usados na divulgação das festas nos anos 90 – Eletro Vibez|date=2018-06-28|work=Eletro Vibez|access-date=2018-10-31|language=pt-BR}} the festival moved to Cream's home city of Liverpool the following year, taking place on the old Liverpool airport, before moving to its current location on the Daresbury estate in Cheshire.{{Cite web | url=https://www.creamfields.com/travel |title = Travel to Creamfields}} The festival, having initially begun as a one-day event with 25,000 people in attendance, is now a four-day event with camping options hosting 70,000 per day.{{Cite web | url=https://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/creamfields | title=Creamfields 2021 | Festival Line up & Info |website=Ticketmaster.co.uk}} The festival is the UK's most prestigious electronic dance music festival.{{Cite web | url=https://www.festicket.com/magazine/discover/top-10-electronic-music-festivals-uk/ | title=Top 10: Electronic Music Festivals in the UK 2020 – Festicket Magazine}}
In 2022, Creamfields celebrated its 25th anniversary by launching a second UK-based festival – Creamfields South. Creamfields South took place at Hylands Park, Chelmsford across the Platinum Jubilee weekend in June and is returned in 2023,{{Cite web |last=Woolston |first=Hope |date=2022-06-07 |title=Creamfields South will return to Chelmsford next year |url=https://www.essexlive.news/whats-on/music-nightlife/creamfields-south-2023-dance-festival-7176431 |access-date=2022-06-09 |website=EssexLive |language=en}} with the original Daresbury festival being renamed Creamfields North.{{Cite web |last=Rice |first=Elle May |date=2022-02-17 |title=Calvin Harris joins Creamfields 2022 line up for 25th anniversary |url=https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/calvin-harris-joins-creamfields-2022-23130367 |access-date=2022-03-06 |website=Liverpool Echo |language=en}} However, from 2024 the festival had reverted to one location in the north.{{Cite web |last=Whitehouse |first=Ellis |date=2023-09-28 |title=Creamfields South festival won't return to Essex next year |url=https://www.essexlive.news/news/essex-news/creamfields-south-not-return-hylands-8786884 |access-date=2025-05-01 |website=Essex Live |language=en}}
History
Creamfields initially began in 1998 as a one-day annual event run by the Liverpool night club Cream.{{Cite web | url=https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/whats-on/music-nightlife-news/a-history-of-creamfields-festival-9906353.amp |title = A history of Creamfields festival|date = 22 August 2015}} This first edition was held in Winchester, Hampshire, and attracted 25,000 people. The following year Creamfields moved to the old Liverpool Airfield in Liverpool, Merseyside. The move put the festival closer to its parent night club and the new site was able to hold 50,000 people. In 2016, Cream was demolished; however, the brand continued to run the festival. In 2006 the festival moved outside the city to its current location in Daresbury, Cheshire.{{Cite web | url=https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/creamfields-quits-speke-airport-site-3522364.amp |title=Creamfields quits Speke airport site |date=22 February 2006 }} On the 10th anniversary of the festival it expanded to a two-day event, with 50,000 people attending across the weekend. The festival site expanded over the next few years after its first sellout in 2009 of 60,000 across the weekend. In 2010, the site was expanded to accommodate additional ticket sales and growing demand from campers. The festival sold 80,000 tickets in 2010 and 100,000 in 2011.
In 2012 the festival ownership changed hands as Cream was bought out by Live Nation, the current organisers of the event.{{Cite magazine | url=http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/1096966/live-nation-buys-edm-entertainment-company-cream-holdings-ltd-owner-of |title = Live Nation Buys EDM Entertainment Company Cream Holdings LTD, Owner of Creamfields Festivals| magazine=Billboard |date = 9 May 2012}}{{Cite web | url=https://www.iq-mag.net/2019/09/creamfields-invests-2m-festival-site/#.Xqw78x7TU0M | title=Creamfields invests £2m in festival site| date=25 September 2019}} The festival was set to expand to a three-day event, but on the final day the festival was abandoned because of heavy rain. The following year the organisers invested £500,000 in the site to protect it against bad weather. The three-day event allowed an attendance of 150,000. 2014 saw the edition of a second primary stage, the North and South Stage; and in 2015, the festival was live streamed for the first time, to 500,000 online attendees. The Steel Yard stage was introduced in 2016, spawning a spinoff mini-festival with events held in Liverpool and London; the same year, the festival become a four-day event with site expansion in 2017 allowing for a maximum attendance of 280,000. In 2019, £2,000,000 was invsted to improve security and safety and to reduce environmental impact.{{Cite web | url=https://accessaa.co.uk/creamfields-to-invest-2-million-into-site-improvements/ | title=Creamfields will invest £2 million into site improvements| date=24 September 2019}} The festival hosted Swedish House Mafia in their Save the World Reunion Tour, the supergroup's first UK show since 2012; the group were the sole occupants of the festival's iconic Arc Stage on the day of the event.{{Cite web|url=https://thegroovecartel.com/news/watch-swedish-house-mafia-creamfields-2019/|title=Watch Swedish House Mafia at Creamfields UK 2019 [Full set]|date=26 August 2019|via=thegroovecartel.com}}
The 2020 edition of the festival was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a virtual festival taking its place.{{Cite web|url=https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/creamfields-announces-august-virtual-event-featuring-never-before-seen-performances-9428677|title=Creamfields Announces August Virtual Event Featuring Never-Before-Seen Performances|date=3 August 2020|website=Billboard.com|access-date=9 January 2021}} Following Boris Johnson's announcement on the 22 February regarding the road out of the UK's COVID-19 lockdown, Creamfields announced that the 2021 edition would go ahead. Tickets for the event sold out in record time.{{Cite web|url=https://www.warringtonguardian.co.uk/news/19115414.creamfields-set-go-ahead-daresbury-august-party-summer/|title=Creamfields sells out and set to go ahead in Daresbury in August to be 'party of summer'|website=Warrington Guardian}}
A second UK-based festival – Creamfields South – was introduced in 2022 at Hylands Park in Chelmsford, hosting headline acts such as David Guetta and Calvin Harris. Organisers said that they expected the festival to continue and become 'a solid and regular fixture on the UK festival circuit', with Creamfields South confirmed to be returning for 2023.
=Edition's summary=
{{more citations needed|section|date=May 2020}}
Nb: Artists shown in the table below were headliners for the event. For full line-ups see List of Creamfields line-ups.
Album
{{Main|Creamfields (2004 album)}}
On 9 August 2004, British DJ Paul Oakenfold released his fifteenth DJ Mix album entitled Creamfields. The album was released in advance of the sixth edition of the festival in 2004 of which Oakenfold was due to perform. The album itself is third in a series of remix album with the other two being made by other DJs. In 2019, Oakenfold released a further DJ mix album to celebrate the festival's twentieth anniversary.{{Cite magazine | url=https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/paul-oakenfold-mix-creamfields-20th-anniversary-8546675 | title=Paul Oakenfold's Mix for Creamfield's 20th Year: Listen | Billboard| magazine=Billboard| date=18 December 2019}}
Creamfields: Steel Yard
The 2016 edition of Creamfields saw the debut of the Steel Yard stage at the main event in Daresbury, Cheshire. The stage is a 15,000 capacity super structure designed and built by Acorn Events.{{Cite news|url=http://www.acorn-events.com/super-structure/|title=50m Super Structure ⋆ Acorn Events|work=Acorn Events|access-date=2018-10-31|language=en-GB}}
Steel Yard Liverpool made its debut in 2016 at the city's Clarence Graving Dock, and now occurs annually in late November or early December.{{Cite web | url=https://liverpoolexpress.co.uk/creamfields-steel-yard-comes-central-docks/ |title = Creamfields Steel Yard comes to Central Docks|date = September 2016}}
Steel Yard London initially took place in late October at Victoria Park, London in 2017,{{Cite web | url=https://www.festicket.com/magazine/features/creamfields-steel-yard-makes-london-debut/ |title = Creamfields' Steel Yard to Make its London Debut – Festicket Magazine}} before moving to Finsbury Park for 2018 and 2019 respectively, with a new date on the late-May bank holiday weekend.{{Cite news|url=http://steelyardfestival.com|title=Steel Yard London — Creamfields 2019|work=Creamfields 2019|access-date=2018-10-31|language=en-GB}}
In 2018, Steel Yard Liverpool partnered with Tomorrowland and Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike to bring "Garden of Madness" to the UK for a special one-off event.{{Cite web | url=https://nextfest.co.uk/tomorrowland-creamfields-join-forces-steel-yard-event-december/amp/ | title=Tomorrowland & Creamfields Join Forces for Steel Yard Event This December | access-date=1 May 2020 | archive-date=29 September 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180929233202/https://nextfest.co.uk/tomorrowland-creamfields-join-forces-steel-yard-event-december/amp/ | url-status=dead }}
Creamfields International
{{Incomplete list|date=May 2020}}
File:Creamfields Brasil 2013.jpg
In addition to the two main UK events, Creamfields also operates a number of international spin offs including:{{Cite web | url=https://datatransmission.co/festivals/creamfields-international-widens-reach/ |title = Creamfields International widens its reach|date = 22 August 2017}}
- Creamfields Abu Dhabi
- Creamfields Australia (2010–2012; 2017)
- Creamfields Brazil
- Creamfields Buenos Aires (2001–2015; 2024–present)
- Creamfields Czech Republic (2002)
- Creamfields Chile (2004–2018; 2022–present)
- Creamfields China (2018–present)
- Creamfields Colombia
- Creamfields Hong Kong (2017–present)
- Creamfields Ibiza
- Creamfields Ireland (2000–2002)
- Creamfields Mallorca
- Creamfields Malta
- Creamfields Mexico
- Creamfields Romania
- Creamfields Paraguay
- Creamfields Poland (2003 – Kołobrzeg , 2006–2008 – Wrocław)
- Creamfields Portugal
- Creamfields Peru
- Creamfields Spain
- Creamfields Taiwan (2017–present)
- Creamfields Thailand (2022–present){{cite web | url=https://www.eventpop.me/e/12719/creamfieldsthailand | title=Eventpop | Creamfields Thailand 2022 }}
- Creamfields Turkey
- Creamfields Ukraine
- Creamfields Vietnam
Awards and nominations
=DJ Awards=
{{see also|DJ Awards}}
| class="wikitable" |
| Year
! Category ! Work ! Result ! {{abbr|Ref.|Reference}} |
|---|
| 2014
| Special Award – Best International Dance Music Festival | Creamfields – UK | {{win}} |
=''DJ Magazine''{{'}}s top 50 Festivals=
{{see also|DJ Mag}}
| class="wikitable" |
| Year
! Category ! Work ! Result ! {{abbr|Ref.|Reference}} |
|---|
| 2019
|World's Best Festival |Creamfields – Liverpool, UK |13th |
=Festicket Awards=
| class="wikitable" |
| Year
! Category ! Work ! Result ! {{abbr|Ref.|Reference}} |
|---|
| 2016
| Best EDM/Dance Festival | Creamfields | {{won|3rd}} |
=International Dance Music Awards=
{{see also|International Dance Music Awards}}
| class="wikitable" |
| Year
! Category ! Work ! Result ! {{abbr|Ref.|Reference}} |
|---|
| 2011
| rowspan="2"| Best Music Event | rowspan="2"| Creamfields – Liverpool, UK | {{nom}} |
| 2016
| {{nom}} |
=UK Festival Awards=
{{see also|UK Festival Awards}}
{{Incomplete list|date=September 2018}}
See also
Notes
{{notelist-ua}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category|CreamFields}}
- [http://www.creamfields.com/ Official site]
{{Live Nation}}
{{Major British Music Festivals}}
{{Electronic music festival}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Music festivals established in 1998
Category:Music festivals in Cheshire
Category:Rave culture in the United Kingdom
Category:1998 establishments in the United Kingdom