The Big Chill Festival, London

The Big Chill is an annual festival of alternative, dance and chill-out music and comedy, held in the grounds of Eastnor Castle during early August.

The Big Chill began as a series of ambient parties at the Union Chapel in Islington, but developed into an outdoor festival in 1995 with an event in the Black Mountains of Wales. In the early days the most prominent DJs were Matt Black of Coldcut, Tom Middleton of Global Communication and Mixmaster Morris also known as the Irresistible Force.

In 1998 a new home for the event (now known as "The Enchanted Garden") was found at Larmer Tree Gardens in England where it was held for 5 years. During this time it slowly developed its hallmarks, such as high quality visuals, an excellent range of food stalls, highly unusual line-ups and a Body & Soul field with many healers, masseurs and alternative therapists. In 2001 a second summer festival was also held at Lulworth Castle in Dorset.

The festival has continued to grow in popularity with attendance and ticket sales generally increasing each year. In 2002 the last festival took place at the Larmer Tree Gardens, and then the event moved to its current home at Eastnor Castle where it now takes place each summer at the beginning of August. Attendance at the first "Enchanted Garden" was only a couple of thousand people, rising to around 6-7000 people towards the end of its time at Larmer Tree Gardens. In 2003 this had increased to 17,500. Additional space at the Eastnor site has permitted the festival to grow further to 30,000 people.