Festival N°6


Festival N°6 is an annual art and music festival held in and around Portmeirion, North Wales. The festival presents a wide range of music genres across multiple stages. It is advertised as a family-friendly festival, and as such various areas of the festival are targeted to families, such as "No.6's Mischief Meadow" for children and a designated family camping area. In 2013 one of the organizers stated that due to the size of the village the festival was not likely to grow beyond 10,000 attendees across the weekend.
In July 2018 the festival organisers announced that the festival would be taking an indefinite break.

Overview

The first event took place on 14 September 2012; around 6,500 people attended the festival. It has returned every year since, as of 2017.

Village of Portmeirion

The festival takes place in then north of Wales in the village of Portmeirion on the Snowdonia coast in the Welsh county of Gwynedd. The village location is composed of many edifices inspired by the architecture of an Italian coastal town. Portmeirion village was built between 1925 and 1978 by the architect Sir Clough Williams-Ellis. The festival takes place throughout the village, with the main music events located in adjacent fields; the typical Italian infrastructures show an atypical side of Portmeirion village which is part of the festival atmosphere. The music events and activities range from the Colonnade Gardens to the River Dwyryd, from the Tanglewoods to the beach.

''The Prisoner''

The festival's name is based on the cult TV show The Prisoner, which was filmed largely on location at Portmeirion. The main character is called "Number 6", and was played by the actor Patrick McGoohan. In the series, Number 6 is a secret agent held as a prisoner in a mysterious coastal village. This TV show is iconic of the village and made it famous internationally.

Art, culture and activities

The N°6 Festival includes live music, poetry readings, comedy, talks and other cultural activities. The festival also includes a range of participative activities to complement the mainstream music events and develop differentiation from other music festivals. These have included "Giant Mind", "Urban Sketching", and "Extraordinary Bubbles".

Artists

Since 2012 Festival N°6 has hosted hundreds of musical artists and many other artists performing comedy, talks or performance art. The 2012 festival was in partnership with Electric Elephant Festival. Artists that performed since 2012 have included:
Year Musical artistsOther artists
2012François Kevorkian, Erol Alkan, , Derrick Carter, Sean Johnston, Jerry Dammers, Don Letts, Optimo, , Daniele Baldelli, Harri & Domenic, PBR Streetgang, Kelvin Brown, Will Tramp, Jonny Trunk, Mike Pickering, , Jon Carter, Dub Pistols Soudsystem, Good Sport, Blonde Ambition, Paradise 45, Pete Hebert, Andrea Trout, New Order, Primal Scream, Spiritualized, Richard Hawley, Gruff Rhys, British Sea Power...Caitlin Moran, Phill Jupitus, Jan Morris, Marcus Brigstocke, Stuart Maconie, , Andrew Maxwell, Simon Day, Tony Law, Evie Wyld, Wade McElwain...
2013James Blake, My Bloody Valentine, Manic Street Preachers, Jagwar Ma, , Johnny Marr, Frankie Knuckles, Norman Jay, Carl Craig, Andrew Weatherall, Daniel Avery, Daddy G, Geraint Jarman, David Holmes and Andy Votel, Bryn Fôn, Justin Robertson, Crazy P Soudsystem, , Mark Thomas, Seann Walsh, Clinic, Caitlin Rose, Wire, Stuart Maconie, Tricky, Caitlin Moran..., Joe Duddell, John Cooper Clarke, DBC Pierre, Paul Morley, Bob Stanley, John Niven, Joe Dunthorne, Viv Groskop...
2014Beck, Pet Shop Boys, London Grammar, Bonobo, Neneh Cherry & RocketNumberNine, Steve Mason, Martha Reeves and The Vandellas, Temples, Jimi Goodwin, James Holden, Los Campesinos!, John Wizards, Jon Hopkins, Paul Heaton & Jacqui Abbott, The Undertones, Tom Hickox, Tom Vek, Spector, Toy, Vaults, The Acid, Peter Hook and the Light, Denai Moore, Cherry Ghost, Alexis Taylor, The Radiophonic Workshop, East India Youth, The Rails, All We Are, Arthur Beatrice, Childhood, Telegram..., Joe Duddell, John Robb, Matt Everitt...
2015Metronomy, Belle & Sebastian, James, Grace Jones, Mark Ronson, British Sea Power, Years & Years, Haelos, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Everything Everything, James Bay, Gaz Coombes, Young Fathers, Kate Tempest, Rae Morris, Shura, Stornoway, The Bohicas, Yws Gwynedd, Gruff Rhys, Irvine Welsh, Bernard Sumner, John Niven, Stuart Maconie, Brix Smith...
2016Bastille, Hot Chip, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, Super Furry Animals, Kaiser Chiefs, clean cut kid, Gereint Jarman, Bowie Reimagined, Meic Stevens,Irvine Welsh, Johnny Vegas, Paul Foot, Mark Watson, Joe Lycett, Holly Walsh,...
2017Liverpool Philharmonic and The Bootleg Beatles, Mogwai, Bloc Party, The Cribs, The Flaming Lips, Rag 'n' Bone Man, Yws Gwynedd, Laura Mvula, Jarvis Cocker, Kate Tempest, Arab Strap, The Cinematic Orchestra, Wild Beasts, Nick Mulvey, Hercules & love affair, Goldie, Charlotte Church, Candelas, Mogwai, Yr EiraHenning Wehn, David O'Doherty, Cardinal Burns, The Moomins Live, Irvine Welsh, Mark Oliver, Nish Kumar, Rave-a-roo...

Accommodation

During the event, Portmeirion's village offers visitors a limited availability of accommodation in the village itself. Visitors also have the possibility to make a reservation in hotels, bunk houses, cottages, camper vans, yurts, tipis and tents.

Controversy

In 2016, 200 people had to take shelter in a leisure centre in Porthmadog after the car park for the park-and-ride service flooded and cars became stuck. The organisers were condemned for putting the car park on a flood plain despite having been issued with flood warnings due to heavy rainfall.