Long Division: 'Joyous' return of Wakefield music festival

Long Division in Wakefield, which started in 2011, combines larger venues with 100-capacity spaces

The return of a Wakefield music festival rescheduled three times due to the pandemic will be "joyous" for the city, its director has said.

Long Division festival, which marks its 10th anniversary this year, will see bands and artists play at nine venues throughout Saturday.

The sold-out event, which usually attracts up to 4,000 gig-goers, has reduced attendee numbers for 2021.

Director Dean Freeman said the run-up had been a "proverbial rollercoaster".

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"I started booking the first artists in October 2019, so it's pretty much two years in the making," he said.

"It was meant to be held in June 2020, then we moved it, then we moved it again, then a third time to September 2021."

Dean Freeman, festival director, says he hopes he won't have to deal with Covid-related issues for the next Long Division in 2022

The festival, which is run by a not-for-profit company, saw a slump in finances during 2020 but was kept afloat by a community crowdfunding drive which raised more than £7,000.

"The job this year isn't to be the biggest ever Long Division, it's just for the event to happen, that's all we are trying to achieve," Freeman said.

"We don't need to be the biggest or best, we just need to create this joyous thing."

Artists Billy Bragg, The Cribs and The Fall are among the 1,000 performers to have graced its stages in previous years, with the 2021 festival seeing a last-minute line-up change with headliners the Futureheads having to cancel after a Covid case.

Asian Dub Foundation (pictured) played Long Division in 2019, with Super Furry Animals frontman Gruff Rhys a last-minute replacement in 2021 for headliner the Futureheads

Rob Slater, a musician originally from Wakefield, performed at the first-ever Long Division in 2011 and is making three appearances at the 2021 event.

"When we first got the festival it was such a huge deal for the city, I just couldn't believe that these huge artists were coming to Wakefield," he said.

"It's amazing to see the festival hanging in there and back on its feet, even after ten years you don't want to take things for granted."

Slater, who works as a sound engineer and performs under the pseudonym Carpet, as well as drumming for Leeds-based band Crake, said he was "thankful in all the chaos" to be able to continue working in music.

"I guess everyone's figuring out their identities again, what it means to be a festival, a music scene, a musical city - I guess we'll all figure it out together I suppose," he said.

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