Homelands was a music festival run by Mean Fiddler Music Group (now known as Festival Republic) which consisted mainly of dance music, both live acts and DJs. The festival was held in locations in England, Scotland and Ireland in the period 1999 to 2005. The organisers of Homelands were also behind the Home Nightclubs chain including Home Nightclub in London and Sydney.
The English festivals were held at Cheesefoot Head near Winchester, Hampshire, and was one of the most popular British festivals of this genre.
The Scottish festivals were held in Royal Highland Showground near Edinburgh in 1999, and was held close to New Cumnock in the south of Scotland in 2000.
The Irish festivals were held at the Mosney Holiday Center in County Meath in both 1999 and 2000.
Yearly editions
1999
Homelands festival was on 29 and 30 May 1999. It took place in 'The Bowl', Matterley Estate near Winchester, Hampshire – the site of the 'Creamfields' festival the previous year.
There were nine themed arenas, as follows, with an amazing mix of performers. There are a few acts [Roni Size, Basement Jaxx, Jungle Brothers] that I cannot recall where they performed.
The Home Arena – had the first live Chemical Brothers plus Asian Dub Foundation, Monkey Mafia, Paul Oakenfold, Fatboy Slim, DJ Shadow and Paul Van Dyke.
The MixMag Arena – had a live set from Underworld, plus Faithless, Red Snapper, Dope Smugglaz, DJs Carl Cox, Deep Dish, Gilles Peterson and Darren Price.
The Essential Mix Arena – featuring Radio 1 DJs Pete Tong, plus Paul Oakenfold, Sasha & John Digweed. Radio 1 did a live broadcast from this tent featuring Judge Jules, Danny Rampling and a 4-hour Essential Mix.
The End – hosted by the London club – had two arenas.
The End 01 – a deep house tent, featuring Terry Francis and The End Sound System (Mr C, Layo and Mathew B) plus Darren Emerson, Dave Angel, Stacey Pullen, Laurent Garnier and Carl Cox.
The End 02 – a drum’n’bass arena with DJ Hype, Andy C, Krust, Bryan Gee, Fabio & Grooverider.
Slinky - Bournemouth's "superclub"
US house club Lyall - featuring New York DJ Danny Tenaglia playing a 10-hour set
There were also two arenas hosted by alcohol sponsors
2000
The 2000 festival took place on a very wet Saturday 27 May 2000. The line included BT, Moby, Public Enemy and Leftfield.
Tents
Ericsson @ Home Arena
- Leftfield
- Ian Brown
- Moby
- Public Enemy
- BT
- Paul Oakenfold
- Armand Van Helden
- Paul Van Dyk
- Scratch Perverts
- David Holmes
- Dope Smugglaz
- Dave Seaman
- Meeker
- Jeremy Healy
- Johnny Moy
- Adam Freeland
- Dan & Jon Kahuna
- Jason Bye
- Alfie Costa
- Manchild
Radio 1 Essential Mix Arena
- Pete Tong
- Sasha
- John Digweed
- Nick Warren
- Lee Burridge
- Craig Richards
- Parks & Wilson
- Col Hamilton
- Stewart Rowell
- Alex Taylor
Slinky & MTV Dancefloor Chart Show Arena
- Judge Jules
- Paul Van Dyk
- Brandon Block
- Alex P
- Graham Gold
- Hybrid feat. Chrissie Hynde
- Ferry Corsten
- Luke Neville
- Lisa Lashes
- Garry White
- Tim Lyall
- Gordon Kaye
- Guy Ornadel
Subterrain & Ultimate Base Arena
- Carl Cox
- Sven Vath
- Mr. C
- Darren Emerson
- Layo & Bushwacka!
- DJ Sneak
- Jim Masters
- Trevor Rockcliffe
The End's Drum & Bass Arena
- Reprazent
- Fabio
- Grooverider
- Andy C.
- Ed Rush
- Optical
- DJ Hype
- Razor
- Zinc
- Pascall
- Randall
- MCs Fats, Dynamite, Moose & Rage
Back2Basics/Deep South/Highrise Arena
- Romanthony
- Danny Rampling
- Jon Carter
- Justin Robertson
- Junior Sanchez
- Steve Lawler
- Ralph Lawson
- Adam Freeland
- Jacques Lu Cont
- Rebel Crew (Scott & Robbie Hardkiss)
- Tayo
- Jenga Heads
- James Holroyd
Ministry House Party
- Darren Emerson
- Davie Reid
- Nick Warren
- Danny Howells
- Lottie
- Gareth Cooke
- Yousef
- Future Shock
- Bent
- Barry Ashworth
Ericsson MYH Arena
- Robert Owens
- Juan Atkins
- Kevin Saunderson
- Sister Bliss
- Groove Amada (DJ set)
- L.E. Bass
- Evil Eddie Richards
- Dave Mothersole
- T Joy
- Richard Grey
- J Jeff
- DJ Vee
Bud Ice Bus
- Richard Fearless
- Norman Jay
- Jon Carter
- Bob Jones & Justin Robertson
- Tim Carbutt (Utah Saints)
- Jools Butterfield
- J. Swinscoe & Tom Chant
- Robin Lurie (percussion)
Bacardi B-Bar
- Gilles Peterson
- Faze Action
- Patrick Forge
- Ross Allen
- Stuart Patterson
Radio 1 Outdoor Sound Stage
- Judge Jules
- Danny Rampling
- Seb Fontaine
- Dave Pearce
- Daniel Bailey
2005
Officially called "We Love... Homelands" it took place on 28 May 2005 from 1pm to 5am, and had a capacity of 50,000. Headliners included The Streets, Beck, Roots Manuva, Mylo, The Bravery, Audio Bullys, Babyshambles, John Digweed and Dimitri from Paris. Medicine 8 performed in the festival's 'Strongbow Rooms'.[1][2]
