UEA marks 20 years of Latitude Festival through memories, music and cultural conversation
By: Communications
To celebrate two decades of Latitude Festival, the University of East Anglia is hosting a rare event with founder Melvin Benn, offering unique insights into the festival's origins, evolution and cultural impact.
UEA academics and students will be taking part in a programme of talks, conversations and creative activities centred around the Festival Bookshop and The Listening Post at the Suffolk festival, as well co-ordinating a project to capture festival memories.
At the heart of this year's programme is a special anniversary conversation bringing together Latitude Festival founder Mr Benn and UEA's Prof George McKay from the School of Media, Language and Communication Studies, one of the UK's leading researchers on festivals, popular culture and music.
Reflecting on 20 years of Latitude Festival
Taking place at 11.45am on Sunday in The Listening Post, the discussion will reflect on the festival's journey over the past two decades and explore why festivals continue to matter as spaces for culture, creativity and community.
Prof McKay, whose work has focused on festivals, music and the social impact of the arts for more than three decades, will join Mr Benn to discuss how Latitude has evolved since its launch and the role it has played in shaping the UK's festival landscape.
The conversation will also look ahead, exploring the future of festival culture and how festivals are adapting to changing audiences and expectations.
Latitude's distinctive approach was recently reflected on by Mr Benn, who said: "There has never been a festival like Latitude that really put arts and culture at the heart of it. "The music headliners are important, but your cultural arrival into this festival is literature, poetry and modern dance."
Capturing the stories behind the festival
Alongside the anniversary conversation, UEA Broadcast Journalism students are helping create a digital archive of Latitude memories.
Invited by the festival, the students will spend the weekend interviewing artists, audiences, volunteers, staff and long-time festivalgoers, gathering stories from people who have helped shape Latitude since its inception.
From discovering a favourite author or musician to unforgettable family moments, new friendships and unexpected experiences, the project aims to capture the stories that sit behind the festival's success.
A longstanding partnership
Honorary lecturer Beth Derks-van Damme has curated UEA's creative contribution to Latitude, creating opportunities for research, public engagement and student learning to reach new audiences.
The anniversary project continues that tradition, combining real-world experience for students with an opportunity to document an important moment in the festival's history.
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