Blissfields

Blissfields is an annual music festival in Hampshire, England run by Paul and Mel Bliss who also run [http://www.blissfieldsrecords.co.uk/ Blissfields Records] . Founded in 2001 at Bradley Farm, Bradley, near Alresford, the festival was sheduled to move to the [http://www.matterley-bowl.co.uk Matterley Bowl] near Winchester in 2008, but has since been cancelled.

History

The first Blissfields event was in 2001 when Paul and Mel Bliss invited a few bands to play at Bradley Farm, near Alresford. Starting with just approximately 70 attendees, Blissfields was held again in subsequent years, slowly increasing in size. In 2005, with increased health and safety concerns and license demands, there was a charge to camp. In 2007, Scouting for Girls headlined and a second stage called the Stage Bus was added. In the same year, Blissfields was named the Best Small Festival in the UK Festival Awards. [http://www.festivalawards.com/index.cfm?section=awards.category&year=2007&id=59] Restrictions at Bradley Farm meant that no more than 1,000 people could attend.

2008

Blissfields was to move to the [http://www.matterley-bowl.co.uk Matterley Bowl] near Winchester in 2008, resulting in an increase in the capacity of the festival to 4,000. On June 2 it was announced that the festival would be cancelled due to poor ticket sales. There were going to be four stages, with The Wonder Stuff, The Whip and Roni Size/Reprazent headlining the Punch Bowl, the open air main stage, between July 4 and 6.

External links

* [http://www.blissfields.co.uk Blissfields Website]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/hampshire/content/articles/2007/12/05/blissfields_feature.shtml BBC]