Bloodstock

Biography

In 2000 a group of people came together to realise that due to the demise of the Monsters of Rock Festival normally held at Donington, the UK was sorely lacking in a good traditional Heavy Rock Festival.

As fans of this music we took on board the creation of the BLOODSTOCK Rock Festival, now in its 3rd year at the 2,000 capacity Derby Assembly Rooms. OK it is a lot smaller than Donington, but the venue offers 2 indoor halls, with major bands appearing in the main hall and unsigned bands in the smaller Darwin Suite. A large foyer separates the halls where a music market encompassing 20 stalls is housed.

Now, none of us had ever promoted a show before, let alone a major event at an indoor arena, so employing a good production manager and team ensured the event ran smoothly. We have also become experts in website design, e-commerce, event management, promotions, PR, T-shirt and programme design and any other activity relating to putting on a show.

Our niche has become the only festival to bring to the UK some of Europe's top Rock acts for the first time. Bands such as Primal Fear, Blind Guardian, Elvenking have debuted in the UK at Bloodstock. 2003 is no exception with Finland's no.1 Operatic Metal band "Nightwish" making their first appearance in the UK. For unsigned bands it gives them the opportunity to play in front of up to 500 people, more so than they would get playing at their local!

It has not been easy, we are yet to make a profit, however as the years go by we are becoming more established with small amounts of sponsorship appearing, funding has been non existent as our venture was deemed too risky, yet here we are now 3 years later with a 2 day event on 29th and 30th August 2003.

We have our sights set on "BLOODSTOCK at Donington" in the future - who knows!

Source: Bloodstock (July 2004) read less

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