Cro Cro Land Festival

Saturday 1st October 2022,

End of August updated: Cro Cro Land 2022 is sadly cancelled. The public reactions are an indictment of how much this event is LOVED.

“Like a huge family gathering, filled with all the most life-affirming vibes and, of course, the best live music.” (Get In Her Ears)

As TheZineUK is a documentary, leaving the following preview in the ether and looking forward to when we can next go GO to Cro Cro!

3 stages, 1 MOMENT!

The inaugural Cro Cro Land happened in 2019 and really started something…
“as the final note fades, you can see by the expressions on faces that this new one-day festival has been something special.” (Little Indie Blog).

2022, it’s BACK. with a dream-fest of a line up before all the Cro Cro Land star turns are even announced.

I just can’t wait to catch some of these exciters live on stage and am thrilled that some mover shaker faves are on this year’s bill.

As music festivals go, this is a bursting, bustling hive of ones to watch who are leading fresh ways in the fertile environment.

In a modernist architecture celebrating it’s sixtieth year, a virtual art house party of newer wave’s rock scenes and anti-scenes fused into a spanky, sparky, sparkly eclectic pop joy all dayer.

If you can make it, you will not be disappointed.

Even as I’m writing this, new adventures, accolades and achievements are being added to the individual tales of all involved, on or off stage.

TheZineUK is a documentary and story tapestry. We know there will be more threads to weave in, nearer the time. 'The setup of CroCroland should be the blueprint for all aspiring promoters. Intimate, in your face and firesome acts!' (Travellers Tunes).

This is, indeed, “how to music festival”. So much so, that TheZineUK’s own Events Department has no need to revive ArtBeatFest Amersham Arms, because it’s just a public transport hop down the East London Line to this dream.

We heart CroCroLand! #MusicWomen: Monefa Walker of TheZineUK (now a released artist), Kat Five, and Peggy From Earth (now a performing musician, So Young mag journalist.

The calls to “do it again”, after the first festival, have been answered.

“I left with one overarching thought: for the first outing of any festival to circumnavigate the issues (queues, gender imbalance, queues) that other, more established, events suffer from is impressive enough. Cro Cro Land did all that, and they did it with rainbow cake.”
(London In Stereo)

Pre-Pandemica, TheZineUK doc had opined that integrating, community led, inner-city pioneers like DecoloniseFest, Loud Women and CroCroLand should book stages for outdoor festivals around the country.

Urban based DIY events are as much a part of the festival circuit as the bigger gatherings in city parks or further afield and the easiest to feel a more personal part of.

It works for our mates, This Feeling (their stages grace many a festival and have injected working class musicians into wider possibilities), so why not additionally embrace these also-proven newer collectives? Now is a dawning golden age with a diverse fusion of inclusion to boost artists and audience alike.

By 2022, off-shoots, out of town/country dates and collaborations have re-shaped the now and next for all three of these festivals.

On a personal note, I like that I can feel included at all of them. Even tho I have spent my life going to the gigs I wanted to be at, anyway, these are better as I can go alone, feel shy if it’s one of those days, but STILL feel part of it.

The other day UK Music put out another survey about diversity in the industry. As a vintage West Indian rock chick, I’ve been in the biz for decades. I just tweeted back “change is coming” (I see/feel this) and added “speed it up”. These awesome CroCroLand bands will give this year’s collective psyche a much needed boost.

TheZineUK team were absolutely blown away by the first Cro Cro in 2019.

From involvement on the mentoring at the Lives Not Knives HQ in Croydon, a few days earlier (ooh, thank you) to the vibrant day and night of the festival itself. We reported “'It’s definitely accurate to say, the music scene in Croydon has been re-awakened”.

What was taken away from that experience? An overwhelming feeling of warmth and an almost hippy level of musical euphoria.

Obviously the last two years have meant that humanity is only just finding it’s feet, so it’s extra exciting to hear that 2022 gets this peacemas treat!

Since that first fest, Croydon became ‘Music City’, it embraced it’s punk and grime roots and, in 2023, will be London Borough Of Culture - speaking of which, some time ago, I found myself at a pre-meeting (in the Fairfield Halls!)

I was back to Croydon in Spring when Arxx headlined the festival’s travelling offshoot, As The Cro Cro Flies (with John Kennedy of Radio X - who was at the first festival from first to last band - hosting the show and on the DJ decks). Yet again, an exquisitely executed event.

It is fair to regard Saturday the 1st of October 2022 as the alternative launch for Croydon 2023.

CroCroLand is a perfect nationwide and local community ambassador. It’s an inclusive, effusive love in of a creative music social. Top talented, tasty, peaceful and fun - blessed with guitar band goodness.

As soon as this year’s date and incredible line-up was announced it was straight in the diary.

With easy travel from London and Brighton, Fairfield Halls (an accessible venue) is a short walk from East and West Croydon stations.

Documenting the birth of a DIY powered, newer wave music industrious is an absolute blast for TheZineUK. These artists are forces of Nature who power that.

Situationist magick and people passion power are a heady mix. Our social media timelines are nowadays mostly sharing the news that the cast and crew of our story are generating for this age.

There is a tapestry of shared faves from our start at ArtBeat Amersham Arms to Loud Women Fest (which happens back there in September) alongside DecoloniseFest (also September) and CroCroLand - all interdependent game changers at grassroots level.

Somehow, the artist stories really are a fertile environment of next levels, like a popular music ok-computer game of reality - despite dystopia, climate apocalypse, political armageddon, pandemic, cost of greed crisis, selfservative fash coup bollocks and humanity’s biggest enemy, apathy.

Listen again to who soundtracks all this - we have our own (approachable) rock stars! Bonus - I’m glad it’s a 16+ all dayer.

Wanna feel some spiritual heal 4REAL? Just get a load of good people together making a song and dance. Like this, really.

This kinda punky partying is a prime example of Nature’s (much needed!) duracell-battery for the human condition.

If ya want some extra go-go, be at Cro Cro.

Trust.

Gonna leave the last word with TheZineUK’s editor, Dizzy Spell: “Hands down the first one was the most inclusive, safest, friendliest and just all round most epic Fest I’ve even been to. 1000% recommend Cro Cro Land.”

https://www.crocroland.co.uk/

pssst!

We are still on the hunt to credit the mystery snapper who took this shot in Spring 2019 of these wonderful hearts:

Lori of Weekend Recovery, Georgia of Nova Twins, Jess and Bram of Tiger Mimic and Amy of Nova Twins at Cro Cro Land 01!