Thursday 28th August  2:18 am Good Morning

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Nelson's Column July Get loaded in the park 22nd July 2005 Festivals are blossoming all over London but will they be able to resist commercialisation? Not so long ago the festival season was an undernourished soul. However, over the last couple of years festivals in many guises have been spreading like wildfire. This year the sheer quantity is astounding. Scanning a casual eye over my filofax the other day, I realised that I’ve been up to little else so far this summer and the coming months promise more of the same. Why so many, why now? The real motivator - as in most things- is money. People are realising there’s a packet to be made; a couple of thousand people paying £30 a head will yield a hefty sum. It seems the yuppie entrepreneurs of the 80s have intermarried with the loved-up ravers. They’ve grown up and now they’re fusing financial savvy with their love of outdoor parties. Of course, the idea’s been around forever, look at festival mega brands Glastonbury and Reading, they seem to increase in popularity every year. They’ve always excluded a lot of us though; if you’re not keen on living in the abject squalor of a tent for several days you can’t go. The festivals which have appeared recently aren’t cut from the same cloth; they are taking place in outdoor areas, right here in central London and usually last just a day. Have an al fresco boogie within easy staggering distance of a friendly abode, a comfy bed and the papers come morning. They’re all over the place and they’re not necessarily large affairs either. Marketing to minorities is the innovation. But it’s not just ethnic minorities like Notting Hill or the London Mela; it’s about targeting musical taste. Get Loaded in the Park is happening again this summer – last year the suggestion of a reformed Happy Mondays and pals filling Clapham Common seemed laughable but it was a resounding success and it’s back again this summer. Who would’ve thought there’d be so many people who still cared? On the other hand, we’re got Kenwood’s Summer Series marketing to the affluent, thirty-somethings who dwell around Hampstead Heath. Then there are all the community events like the Ealing Summer. There’s something for everyone, everywhere, it seems. Mass marketing is out, niche marketing is in. And the festival industry – for that is what it has become – is booming because of it. Surely all this is a good thing? Londoners can all go and see loads of music in a pleasant outdoor setting and we don’t have to stray too far, nor submit ourselves to the horrors of camping. There’s more choice of music too. All we’ve got to worry about now is festivals descending too far into corporate promotion. Sponsorship has been around for eons but the appearance of events like Fruitstock - a free festival in Regent’s park organised and paid for by the Innocent drinks company – is a worrying trend. These days nothing is left untouched by commercialism; let’s just hope it doesn’t ruin the party. Affair of the Art London-based artist Dean Marsh has scooped up £25,000, first prize in the BP Portrait awards, for a picture of his girlfriend. Marsh never normally does figurative work but painted his girlfriend ‘because I love her’. The winning painting and the runners up will remain on display throughout August. School of Hard Cash UCL announced this week that it will have to become a corporation in order to address the massive deficit in its funds. This is because as a University with no plans for expansion, diversification, or new courses, it is ineligible for funding from any government body, even though it is a London institution that has served millions of students. Now UCL can cash in on PFI consortium deals. Goodbye Art History, hello Business Management. Back Track on Black Arts Black Theatre group Talawa had their hopes dashed today when the Arts Council withdrew funding for a dedicated Black Theatre in Victoria. Critics of the scheme had warned against creating ghettoes within theatrical culture. In any case, there are currently two fantastic black productions in the West End, Elmina’s Kitchen and The Big Life. August 2008 26th August No Smoking, No Ducks, No Barbecues 20th August The Olympics July 2008 24th July Sandwiched Out 17th July The Show Ain't Over 'Til the Fat Lady's on Page 3 June 2008 26th June Love All at Wimbledon 16th June Miller Puts the Heat on Tennant May 2008 27th May Booze Banned on Buses 20th May Same Again? April 2008 23rd April By George 11th April Back to the 80s March 2008 28th March How do You Solve A Problem Like Medea? 20th March Flight Fantastic February 2008 20th February Dark, Satanic Turnmills 6th February A Diamond in the Drink January 2008 21st January People Wanted for Plinth 14th January Boo! Hiss! December 2007 28th December Tate That - A Hirst for Art 20th December Christmas Shopping November 2007 27th November Mind the Gap 26th November London On A Tray October 2007 26th October Leaving the Station 14th October The Sky's the Limit September 2007 26th September The Play Within A Play 19th September Fashion, Frocks and Celeb Shocks 12th September Saying Tanks for the Mammaries August 2007 24th August Heathrow under Siege 17th August Gormless 10th August Losing Face July 2007 24th July Are We Reaching Boiling Point Yet This Summer? 13th July Red Ken versus Blonde Boris June 2007 22nd June Last Orders at the Fag Machine 11th June London the Musical May 2007 21st May What Lurks Beneath 10th May The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of April 2007 27th April London’s Walk on the Wild Side 20th April Stand Behind the Yellow Line 13th April Like Water for Chocolate March 2007 23rd March So, Another Magazine 16th March Avoiding iContact February 2007 23rd February Sex and Art... 16th February C-Charge Protest Fails to Bring Down Government 9th February Live Earth London January 2007 26th January A Vote for Shilpa is a Vote for Britain 18th January Carriage on up the West End December 2006 29th December Food for Thought 22nd December A Poisonous Marketing Campaign 15th December In for a Penny, In for Five Pounds November 2006 17th November Big Department Stores Leave Santa Out in the Cold 10th November Failing to Save the World October 2006 27th October Frozen Prawns and Melting Icecaps 20th October Predatory Pelicans and Happy Woodland Folk 13th October Hope at last for east end of Oxford Street September 2006 16th September Lite the Blue Paper and Stand Well Back 9th September Of Poles and Twiglets August 2006 25th August Free Fares For the Fat and the Fashionable 11th August London Friendly 4th August Archway To Organic Heaven July 2006 21st July London - Celebrity Frat House 7th July Out of the Galleries into the Streets June 2006 23rd June Mayors, Nightmares and Marias 16th June Downright Rude in Paris and London 9th June Enter the Inferno May 2006 26th May Curvaceous Border 12th May Vegging Out April 2006 21st April The Camden Crawl 17th April Down the Pan 13th April I Want to Break Free 9th April Big Brother seems to have been left in a bar somewhere 7th April Don't Box Me In March 2006 24th March Political Correctness Reaches New Heights February 2006 24th February A Stadium's Tale: Cup Final Goes West 17th February Modern Musicals are Rubbish 10th February The City-Side Alliance January 2006 20th January February Sales 20th January Moby Sick 13th January Glass Half Full 3rd January Three Cheers for the Tube Station Workers December 2005 22nd December January Bites 16th December A Remarkable Year November 2005 25th November And a Partridge in a JCB 11th November Driving Miss Sadie 4th November Spam, Spam, Spammity-Spam, Shakespeare, Zorro, Chico and Rasputin October 2005 28th October Trick or Treat? 21st October We Don't Mind a Little Delay... 14th October Final Resting Place for Young British Artists September 2005 16th September Just a small urn for me, please barman 9th September DRINK! DRINK! DRINK! 2nd September The Free Tenor August 2005 30th August Samba Rhythms Breaking Out All Over The Stadium 20th August Getting Behind the Iron Farce 10th August Mystery Play is No Sell Out July 2005 29th July Moving On From 7/7 22nd July Get loaded in the park 15th July Victoire!! June 2005 24th June New Balls, Please</