our story
Inception
Discotek was the events brand launched in December 2016 by Tom Howell and Ross Powell, the owls of parliament, in their sleepy and slow paced hometown of Hereford. Presenting their range of music tastes from disco and house through to techno, with a progressive build and journey through each event. Underground dance music hadn’t been much of a fixture in the city for nearly 2 decades following the closure of the renowned Crystal Rooms in 2004, having regularly attracted bus loads of attendees from around mid Wales, the West Midlands and beyond.
In the spring of 2017, following their second themed event entitled “Lost Ruins”, a burning desire to escape the standard nightclub environment arose from within. A grand old disused building? An outdoor space? They wanted bigger and better, an arena to pour time and attention into. Through conversations with family came an opportunity to utilise a patch of private woodland that was pending planning permission for development of ponds and a nature reserve. A visit to the site and trawl through the nettles later, and Into the Woods was born. Cue Billy Seeberg arriving with his drone and stellar film making ability (Billy now tours with Chase & Status and Patrick Topping as their filmmaker). 9th September 2017, the date was set and the hype building began.
Along came Martyn…
This particular event caught the attention of a silverback ape unlike anything Hereford had previously seen. Hailing from Walsall (near enough Birmingham - he hates that), this Brummy basket case of energy helped out in the setup for our first woods before coming onboard officially for Into the Woods 2018, alongside then co-founder of A Rule of Tum (Burger Shop & The Bookshop), Jon Stead. A powerful quadfecta knocked their heads together to grow this event and amp up the production value, after what was essentially a pop-up event in 2017 with a shipping container for a bar unit, a hired-in stage, and two questionable tent setups.
The Cabin was born
We are eternally grateful to Jon Stead for delivering his CAD concept for our first stage build. A tall, triangular prism design that was utterly foolproof, in theory. The erection of said prism brought many nervewracking moments and near disaster as the 6m tall timber frames were too unstable for even the four of us mighty / mouse-like young males. The second frame collapsed and nearly took the first frame piece with it, bouncing off the afixed piece and crashing down near enough ontop of us. Following the second or third hoist upwards, we managed to botch in ten hundred screws and bob was indeed our uncle.
Recycled scaffold boards were affixed to garnish the exterior walls and complete the ominous structure. It was a thrill for the four of us to share and perform on this stage for the first time.
More, we want more!
As with any high, the mind naturally craves more soon thereafter. In 2019 Martyn managed to get himself pregnant in a bizarre twist of fate, stumbling helplessly into a new patch of our woodland grounds, and giving birth to the Houghton-inspired Keep Stage. A rectangular, wind-prone structure with a recycled corrugated sheet roof was conceived. His baby. Hidden away in the bramble overgrowth away from prying eyes, until showtime on 18th August 2019 where he christened the Keep Stage with his signature thumping sound. Legend has it, he still uses baby wipes and talcum powder to keep his baby’s timbers clean and dry.
The Keep’s enclosed space deeper between the trees enabled us to extend the running time from midnight until 3am. Spooky and serene all at once, The Keep late at night has Martyn’s ballet heritage written all over it. I think we decided Into the Woods had “festival” status at this point. A fully fledged weekend camping event.
A pandemic and premises license
A protracted time away from the woods and the outside world gave rise to Yogi P’s own catalogue of music, having learnt and carved his sound over the course of a few years. Tom was the only tribal chief not on furlough and therefore gained 2 more years of digital marketing under his belt… Glamourous.
Following consecutive sell out Woods events in 2018 & 2019, we knew we were capable of doubling or even tripling the size of the woods event. Following consultation with Herefordshire council, permission was granted to rip up our Temporary Events Notice (499 crowd capacity) and replace it with a mammoth Premises License for up to 1500 brave, adventurous souls.
Into the Woods festival 2021 was timed to complete perfection. Either by complete fluke, or mindful estimation, the final remaining social distancing rules were lifted 10 days before our festival was due to take place on 30th July 2021. By the skin of our teeth, we were able to run the festival as one of the first completely restriction free events since the pandemic began. We can’t begin to describe the feeling. Maybe these faces and clips help to explain.
We had originally booked headline artists including Chris Stussy, Oden & Fatzo and more to play in 2021, but international travel restrictions had the last laugh and an entire switch in the headline artist lineup was completed just weeks from the festival date.
Terminal Velocity
Approaching our fifth year of Into the Woods festival, we reckoned with a sad reality… The lifespan of the Poplar trees that formulate our sacred ground was nearing its end. Grown as a “crop” in a 25-30 year cycle, its 30 years are up. These trees are fast-growing and often climb to between 50 and 160 feet in height; then often used to create plywood and wood pulp for manufacturing and construction.
Pull out all the stops - our mantra for 2022.
Triple the lineup budget? Check. Add a third stage? Check. Add a third day of music? Check. Expand our music genres into DnB and beyond? Check. Invest thousands on decor and production? Check, check, check.
Dusky, Prospa, Oden & Fatzo(live), 220 Kid, Secondcity, Djoko, Max Chapman, Interplanetary Criminal (vinyl), Champion - plus the DnB headliners, Bladerunner, Stamina MC, LSB, Skeptical, Monty, GLXY, 2SHY MC and more…
A thunderous lineup.
Over 110 artists contributed to by far our biggest and best ever show, attracting attendees from all four corners of the UK, European countries and beyond (shouts to Jeffrey from Hong Kong who’s set the distance to ITW record).
The final chapter…
All good things must come to an end.
The poplar trees that bring our woodland to life are due to be cut down and harvested following the 2023 event. However we still have plenty of trees and overgrowth to play with for one final occasion.
After 2023, the woods will become the clearing.
Up to three thousand music lovers will be part of its final send off.
Will you be experiencing it?
