Wakestock details
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Last updated: 11 July 2011
8-10 July 2011
Wakestock in Abersoch is Europe's largest wakeboarding festival, spread across three sites on Gwynedd's Llyn peninsula. The main wakeboarding events are held in Pwllheli Marina, Abersoch Bay hosts the Big Air Classic spin-off and Penrhos is the music site.
Alongside the Abersoch event is one held at Blenheim Palace and another in Toronto.
First held in 2000 in an overflow carpark in Abersoch for 650 people, Wakestock has grown to a 25,000-capacity music and watersports festival that's able attract some of the UK's highest-profile acts.
The event began when a young water sports enthusiast Mark Durston recognised the connection between extreme sports and "knowing how to party". Mark, with an ever-expanding team, still organises the event today from the Wakestock office in Abersoch.
Within two years the Yacht Club's car park was proving too small and in 2002 it moved to its current Penrhos site. Good relationships with local landowners and authorities have ensured a reasonably easy transition to its current size and status.
Despite being rained off in 2007's severe weather, it returned in 2008 with a very strong line-up including local girl and the year's best seller, Duffy, Funeral For A Friend and The Futureheads.
The 10th event, held in 2009, included a high proportion of Welsh artists. Bex Tappin of Wakestock said, "There's talk of some real treats in store, including some of the biggest names in the industry. But we do have a tradition of smaller unsigned acts from in and around Wales, allowing them to showcase their talents to a huge home crowd."
In 2003 Duffy played as an unsigned act, and the likes of The Automatic and Goldie Lookin' Chain have played before chart success.
The music is often broken into general dance- and rock-themed days, but one of the most notable characteristics things is the flexibility of the line-up. Dance DJs plays alongside metal bands; Welsh-language acts follow American indie.
2011 line-up:
- Ellie Goulding
- Kids In Glass Houses
- Lethal Bizzle
- The Wombats
- The Joy Formidable
- Biffy Clyro
- The Cribs
- Noisettes
- Chase And Status
- Kelis
- Example
- Neon Trees
- Fenech Soler
- Charlie Simpson
- Pulled Apart By Horses
- Wretch 32
- Jaguar Skills
- Masters In France
- Colorama
