Matt Freemantle is the director and one of the founders of South West’s largest one day festival, Lemonfest in Newton Abbot; the festival was first launched in 2010 and has hosted bands from the likes of Ben Howard, Lucy Rose, The Skints, Luke Friend, Hard-Fi, Lords of Lightning,Will and the People and many, many other names. I’ve been going to the festival since 2012 and I’ve seen how much the festival has grown and progressed over those years, this year I was even lucky enough to briefly work at the festival; it’s such a lovely festival and I urge you all to buy tickets for next year. This is part of a series of festival interviews I’ve done recently, so if you find this interesting be sure to read the other interviews linked below.
What inspired you to start Lemonfest?
At the time, it was just 3 friends with a passion for Live Music, who wanted to see a festival in our hometown. We sat around (in the pub, as per normal) and discussed how great it would be to put on our own festival. The rest – as they say – is history.
Have you always wanted to run a festival?
Weirdly, no. I always loved music in a variety of different genres, so the idea just kind of grew from there really. I actually used to hold big birthday parties down in Teigngrace aged around 15 or 16, when people from all sorts of places locally would just turn up and camp with us. Sound systems out the back of people’s cars, BBQ’s, football matches. It was great fun. So maybe I sub consciously have always wanted to run a festival!
How did you establish the festival (make it bigger and well known)?
With great difficulty. We have always been completely self-funded with no official financial backing from anyone, so initially marketing had always been quite hap-hazard at best. We used to spend all hours driving around all corners of the South West, making friends with local pubs and shops asking them to put our posters up. Actually, not much has changed! We still do a lot of our own promo by hand. I think it’s actually much more grass-roots that way, and it’s good for people to know exactly who is running things, and that it’s not just a big national corporation I guess.
When and what was the first festival you ever went to?
It was Boardmasters festival down in Newquay, we used to go each year religiously. It was the closest most accessible one for us as it was too hard to get Glastonbury tickets. I think the first year was maybe 2004? We used to go to Newquay for Run to the Sun weekend usually too, which was always good fun – although we’d never actually go to the event itself, but just stay in town and go to all of the parties!
How much did you know about event management before you started the festival?
Very, very little. I had to learn pretty quickly, and garnered advice from all sorts of places and people.
How did the first year of Lemonfest work out, was it good, was it bad?
Honestly, it was pretty bad. We lost a hell of a lot of money, which we took on as personal debt. I’d just moved up to London so financially it was a huge struggle for the first few years. I’ll always remember how disorganized we were… to the point where we still didn’t have vital infrastructure such as skips & toilets booked, just a few days before the event. It’s safe to say we’ve learnt a lot since then.
Was/is there any times where you are tempted to stop running the festival?
The Sunday morning immediately after years one and two, were particular low points for us. We’d spend all day (sometimes multiple days) on-site litter picking and clearing up. Doing that, whilst not knowing how you’re going to pay off all of your debts is a pretty horrible feeling. I think perseverance is the key. We knew we had to make a success of it, basically.
Do you think running the festival with Luke has helped, because you’re not planning it all on your own?
Absolutely. Me and Luke have always said that there’s a great balance between the two of us. He tends to do all of the nitty gritty logistics planning, whilst I’m more hands on with all of the entertainment and marketing side of things. That being said, our roles have certainly merged far more as time has gone on, and I think it’s important for both of us to understand more of what each other does.
Do you get any funding from the local community or other businesses, or is it all from your own pocket?
The only investment we receive really is a small sponsorship from one local business – The Pizza Café – who have been keen to support us from day one, of which we greatly appreciate and long may it continue. Aside from that, it’s all from our own pockets. Any money we make tends to go straight back into the festival, to ensure we can keep things fresh and continue to grow each year. Our main focus now aside from the acts is keeping the festival as creative as possible, expect some very exciting new stages and areas for 2017 – that’s all I’ll say at this stage.
Do you have other jobs as well as running the festival, or does the festival produce enough income?
Both myself and Luke have always had additional jobs aside from the festival. Our main priority is making sure the festival continues to move in the right direction. It can be hard sometimes, juggling the two, but ultimately we want to keep the event as relevant as possible.
How do you book bands and is it personal preference, or do you choose bands that people recommend?
Personal preference is always a small factor, but I’ll happily put that to one side to book an act which I know will be popular with our audience. That being said, I’ve never booked an act I didn’t like! My own music taste is very broad anyway. Hopefully that comes across in our line-ups!
How long after the festival do you start booking next year’s bands?
It’s really important to have an eye on acts constantly, I’ll sometimes start conversations about the following year even before the current years’ festival has taken place. There’s no hard or fast rule really on when we book acts, but I certainly like to try and keep on top of things!
Do you have to sort band’s riders, if you do, what is the weirdest thing a band has asked for?
A porcelain cat was my personal favourite; I think that was Tall Ships request a few years back. Sadly, we couldn’t find one, although we genuinely did have a look! A cuddly toy donkey was on one of last years’ riders, and we nipped over to Tesco’s and managed to get one. The band were extremely happy, and even bought it on stage with them I think.
What would be your dream band to book at the festival?
Probably Rage Against the Machine, I would absolutely love that.
What are the main negatives and positives to running a festival?
There are some obvious negatives I guess, lots of very long days and nights, but it’s all worth it. There’s nothing quite like the feeling you get when you see people queueing to get in before the gates have officially opened, that’s always a pretty special moment. That and when the headliners have just come on to the Main Stage. I’ll always try and go into the crowd for at least a couple of songs.
What is the future of the festival?
That’s such a big question, one which I wish I could answer. Hopefully we’ll continue to grow, keep entertaining people, and keep people smiling. We still have to pinch ourselves sometimes that so many people come along to our little festival each year, so we’ll just keep on the way we have been, and try to enjoy it every step of the way.
If you could give any advice to someone wanting to start their own festival, what would you say?
Expect the unexpected. Prepare for sleepless nights, empty wallets, and feelings of utter euphoria; simultaneously sometimes. Have a clear goal of what you want to achieve, and go for it. Or just wing it, like we have.
What question do you wish I had asked you?
What’s in the pipeline for next years’ festival – not that I’d have told you, that is 🙂
Lemonfest website-http://www.lemonfest.co.uk
Facebook Page-https://www.facebook.com/LemonfestMusicFestival/
Twitter-https://twitter.com/Lemonfest?lang=en
My last interview was with the Australian Photographer Sam Brumby, click here to read it.
If you wan to read the other festival founder interviews, click the links below.
Arty Farty 
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