About Time You Met: Dan Gayle, Co-Founder of The Little FestivalBy Alicia Grimshaw
In four years, The Little Festival crew has become known for showcasing innovative house and techno DJs in special environments such as clubs, theatres, basements and real warehouses, always with a magical festival atmosphere. If you’ve never heard about The Little Festival, swot up here. We caught up with Dan Gayle, co-founder of The Little Festival to discuss music, future plans and the nightlife scene in London:
Tell us a bit more about The Little Festival – what can people expect?
When we started out we wanted to create the type of event that we would want to attend. We were all ravers before we were DJing/promoting, so we knew what we liked and we made it our aim to create not only something fresh, but something that encouraged silliness and smiling faces whilst delivering the music we love.
The Little Festival are teaming up with Swiss mega brand Terrazzza – how did the partnership come about?
Describe The Little Festival in three words: Immersive, captivating, fun.
Your past events have always heavily featured visuals, and light and laser shows – why do you think lighting is important to create a festival atmosphere?
We are living in a digital era and operating in the London market is not easy. Promoters are a dime a dozen and it’s easy to get lost amongst the many brands who don’t do anything to differentiate themselves, or set themselves apart from the rest. We’ve invested heavily in production in order to deliver a unique experience and give people the wow factor. The visual element really adds to the shows and as a team we go to great lengths to ensure they add something special to the atmosphere we strive to create at every event.
What do you think of the nightlife scene in London?
It’s a double edged sword and a rollercoaster ride for all the promoters and venue owners/managers who are trying to do their thing in that market. It’s a lot of hard work due to the competition out there, the resources required can be phenomenal and even then, to deliver something that really bangs needs more than just money. However, there are lots of good quality promoters out there who are able to deliver on all fronts and the ravers of London are lucky to be so spoilt for choice.
Who would be your dream act to perform at The Little Festival?
There are too many to choose from! Some of the obvious big names carry huge appeal (Coxy, Troxler, TMB etc), however the real gems are the bookings who fully endorse the spirit of the show. For example, last year we did a warehouse party and we booked Loquace – he was one of our favourite and most memorable bookings as he spent the night charging around the venue wearing a French flag we had given him like it was a cape (yes, he’s French)! Sometimes the attention to smaller detail can really make a show.
What’s the future plans for The Little Festival?
As we’ve grown our network over the past few years we’ve been lucky enough to be presented with new opportunities. We’ve worked really hard to earn them, but there are new ideas, plans and opportunities surfacing from within the team on a daily basis. The hard bit is picking and choosing which route to take. There are lots of exciting things in the pipeline and we will be continuing to push innovative ideas with every event we take on, you will have to wait for official release info to get the lowdown!
Favourite place in London to visit to switch off?
We have been partial to a quiet drink/meal by the river the day after an event, near London Bridge has proven to be quite popular for the gang.
The Little Festival have announced a series of events that are running until the end of the year. See the website for the full listing and more details.
