It’s time for the last ever Leopallooza.
This is goodnight. (But not goodbye…👀)
Dear Friends of the Field
We have some news. This year is going to be the last ever Leopallooza. We know. It’s big. We’re heading down a new, exciting unmarked track, and there’s room for all of you to jump in for the ride.
When we take a step back, it genuinely blows our collective minds when we consider how far the Leopallooza adventure has come since we started this thing, all the way back there in 2006.
You might know the backstory already (if not, it’s worth a read here), but it started out with little more than two telegraph poles and a tarpaulin, a friend who was happy to have his car set on fire (the best kind of friend), some cider and an old barbecue, and some very understanding neighbours. Now, almost 18 years and 14 Leopalloozas later, the neighbours are still very (very) understanding, and we still burn the odd car, but everything else has changed. A lot.
Leopallooza became the catalyst for a journey that eventually created The Wyldes as a venue, itself now bringing some of the biggest names in music down to these cider-infused fields for their own big and very unique shows. It’s also been quite the journey for those who’ve been heavily involved since the early years: blood has been spilt, tears have been shed, hair has gradually been lost and hugs have often held things together when it seemed like nothing else could, or would.
And no doubt it’s been a journey for all of the OG Pallooza veterans amongst you, having witnessed the evolution of both the festival site and the event itself. Without your support, and the support of every single one of you who has bought a ticket and invested in the party since then, there’s a very real chance we’d still be using the same old tarpaulin today.
However, as much as we’d like this journey to last forever, we feel that the time has finally come to pull the car over to the side of the road, turn off the engine, give it a little pat on the bonnet, and then burn it to the ground, one last time.
That’s right – as tough as it is for us to make this officially official, this year will be the 15th and the final Leopallooza Festival.
But this isn’t the end. In fact, it’s just the start of our next chapter. Part II. The Next Generation. Reloaded. We’ll go into more details down the line of course. But trust us. It’s bold, it’s a little bit scary, but it’s VERY EXCITING. You’ll definitely want to come along for that ride. For now though, we wanted to make sure you were all made aware of the news, so that you didn’t miss your chance to be at the very last Leopallooza. Needless to say, we’re gonna go BIG with this one…
Right now though, as we head towards the final Leopallooza, we want to throw out there the biggest thank you to the thousands of you who have supported this event over the years – all the OGs and the new Gs, the buskers and the boujies, the rockers, the ravers, the phone and flag wavers, the moshers and moonwalkers, the slightly creepy band stalkers, the cosmic adventurers and the smurfs who recycle the empty tents for us… heck, even all you beautiful and terribly misunderstood poi fans: all of you who have joined us for this incredible ride at any point within the last 18 years – we bloody love you. Always have, and always will.
This year we’re gonna party harder than at any Leopallooza that’s ever come before. This is the one that will make the final chapter of the book...
If you haven’t already, get your tickets here. And we’ll see you down the front, yeah?
Team ‘Pallooza xx
