LeeFest

Neverworld, formerly known as LeeFest, is a music festival that takes place each Summer in Kent, England. The festival began in founder Lee Denny's garden when his parents went away on holiday in 2006. Despite the festival's small scale in its first two years, by 2011 LeeFest grew into a two-day event with enough capacity for 2,000 people. The festival's capacity has since expanded to 5,000, moving to a new site in 2016. Around 200 volunteers help out during the festival. The festival has won two awards and been nominated for several more. Awards include: 'Best Independent Festival' at AIM Independent Music Awards, 2012 and 'Best Grass Roots Festival' at the UK Festival Awards 2009. Denny was awarded the Spirit of London Awards ‘Achievement in The Arts in December 2012. In the same year he was also placed in Time Out UK 2012: 100 Culture List in the UK's Time Out magazine, considering him "One of the inspiring 100 people in the UK who have made others lives better".

Neverworld, formerly known as LeeFest, is a music festival that takes place each Summer in Kent, England. The festival began in founder Lee Denny's garden when his parents went away on holiday in 2006. Despite the festival's small scale in its first two years, by 2011 LeeFest grew into a two-day event with enough capacity for 2,000 people. The festival's capacity has since expanded to 5,000, moving to a new site in 2016. Around 200 volunteers help out during the festival. The festival has won two awards and been nominated for several more. Awards include: 'Best Independent Festival' at AIM Independent Music Awards, 2012 and 'Best Grass Roots Festival' at the UK Festival Awards 2009. Denny was awarded the Spirit of London Awards ‘Achievement in The Arts in December 2012. In the same year he was also placed in Time Out UK 2012: 100 Culture List in the UK's Time Out magazine, considering him "One of the inspiring 100 people in the UK who have made others lives better".

2006–2007

LeeFest began in 2006 with seven bands playing on a small stage in the garden of teenager Lee Denny's family home on 31 August in Beckenham, London. 150 people attended and the money raised from ticket sales went to the charity Teenage Cancer Trust. The following year the festival took place again in Lee's garden with an increase of attendees to around 350 and money raised was donated to Save The Children.

2008–2009

By 2008 the event had outgrown the garden and moved to fields near Langley Park School for Boys where 600 people attended. This site was used again to host the event in August 2009, with over 1,500 people attending, 70 volunteers, and profits donated to Kids Company.

2010

LeeFest 2010 took place on 14 August at a new venue, Highams Hill Farm. 1,500 people attended, including 700 camping tickets. 150 people volunteered. The line-up included Bastille, The Futureheads, Hot Club De Paris, Jakwob, Does it Offend You, Yeah?, The King Blues, Johnny Foreigner, Starsmith, The Loose Cannons, and Fenech Soler.

2011

In 2011 the festival took place on 12–13 August at Highams Hill Farm. Taking place for the first time across two days, the festival expanded to a larger line-up that included British Sea Power, Young Knives, Fenech Soler, DJ Fresh, David's Lyre, and The Whip.

2012

The festival took place 29–30 July at Highams Hill Farm. In this year the festival expanded its site to include four stages and a capacity of 2,500. The line-up included; Mystery Jets, Public Service Broadcasting (band), The 2 Bears, and GhostPoet.

2013

in 2013 LeeFest ran 25–28 July. Taking place at the same venue as the past three years, LeeFest 2013 attracted over 2,500 people to Highams Hill Farm. Acts included London Grammar, Clean Bandit, Noisettes, Delphic, Public Service Broadcasting, The Other Tribe, King Charles, The Skints, Man Like Me, Stanton Warriors, Dark Sky, Lulu James and much more. The festival remained for-profit.

2014

Acts included The Cribs, Frightened Rabbit, Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip, MØ, Years & Years, Young Fathers, Maribou State, Rae Morris, Jack Garratt, Krafty Kuts, Blonde & Childhood. Over 2,500 people attended.

2016

After taking a year out, LeeFest was back for its 10th anniversary, rebranded as LeeFest presents: The Neverland. Moving to a new, larger site near Tunbridge Wells, LeeFest now has three realms; The Neverwoods, Mermaids Lagoon and Skull Ridge. The lineup for 2016 included Lianne La Havas, Ghostpoet, Shura, The 2 Bears, Little Simz, Formation, loyle carner, The Big Moon, Dj Luck and MC Neat, Big Deal, Dinosaur Pile Up, Spring King, Queen Kwong, Demob Happy, Girli, Beaty Heart and Miamigo.

2018

Following 2017's event, it was announced that the festival had been re-branded under the name Neverworld. Clean Bandit were announced as headliners, with performances from Tom Grennan, Declan McKenna and Sub Focus also advertised.

2014

AIM Independent Music Awards - Finalist Nominee - Best Independent Festival (2014)

2013

AIM Independent Music Awards - Finalist Nominee - Best Independent Festival (2013)

2012

AIM Independent Music Awards Winner - Best Independent Festival (2012) UK Festival Awards 2012 - Finalist Nominee - Best Festival Line Up (2012)

2009

UK Festival Awards 2009 - Best Grassroots Festival (2009) UK Festival Awards 2009 - Finalist Nominee - Best Small Festival (2009) UK Festival Awards 2009 - Finalist Nominee - Best Festival Toilets (2009)

2006

The festival has also been acknowledged with a nomination in the European Festival Awards

Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1335875116 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.