UK festival lineups are still male-dominated, and even queer-friendly events tend to centre gay men. We join the mullets and harnesses at a new event trying to change things
For all the promise of gender equality on lineups, UK music festivals are still dominated by male artists – a BBC study last week found that only 13% of headliners at top festivals this year are women – and many of them are white, straight and cisgender. But down a gravel path in St Albans lies an alternative.
Hosting house and techno artists, Flesh festival – held last weekend – bills itself as the UK’s first queer camping music festival, with a lineup where women, trans and non-binary artists make up more than 90% of the talent. The house and techno names stretch from big stars such as Ellen Allien and Rebekah to artists who have never played a festival before, while an all-female security team watches over festivalgoers, rainbow flags decorate the stages, and the mullet-to-ticket ratio must be the highest of any event in the UK.
