‘A new film by Aaron Trinder, Free Party: A Folk History, turns back the clock to examine this often-overlooked chapter of British counterculture. To mark the film’s premiere this summer, Trinder walks us through the scene’s guiding principles and lasting legacies.‘

‘Free Party: A Folk History is a chronicle of the movement, in which a new wave of underground and outdoor rave parties swept the nation from the late 1980s to the early-to-mid 1990s. According to its creator, DJ, producer and filmmaker Aaron Trinder, the documentary charts "the free party movement's birth, its rapid rise and how the state tried to crush it, from the people who lived it and the legacy it leaves in the present day all across the world." "The film is a unique look at how a pre-internet radical unifying youth culture exploded entirely through word of mouth and outside of the commercial mainstream and how that creative and radical energy is still making ripples in our challenging times." For the film, Trinder has spoken with key players including DiY, Spiral Tribe, Sugarlump, Bedlam, Circus Warp, as well as DJs and producers such as Chris Liberator, Charlie Hall, Colin Dale and Youth‘

‘Composed of news clips, “never-before-seen” archival footage and first-hand accounts from key free party collectives such as West London-originating Spiral Tribe, Circus Warp, and Nottingham’s DiY Sound System, as well as DJs and other contributors, Free Party: A Folk History builds a timeline from the peak of acid house in 1989 and the explosion of free parties in 1991 through to the large-scale protests against the arrival of the anti-rave Criminal Justice Bill in 1994. The film later delves into the European teknival scene before zipping forward to the present day. Notably, Free Party: A Folk History celebrates the catalytic coming together of the new age traveller community and the urban ravers at Glastonbury’s erstwhile travellers' field in 1990, a meeting that filmmaker Aaron Trinder describes as a “kind of marriage made in some sort of glorious rave heaven”.‘

‘A new documentary, Free Party: A Folk History, which dives into the rise and fall of free parties and the UK’s rave culture, will be released to the public at the end of the month (May 30). Directed by Aaron Trinder, the film will feature first-hand recounting of the scene’s birth by some of its most important crews and artists, including DiY Soundsystem, Spiral Tribe, Bedlam, Circus Warp, Colin Dale and Charlie Hall. It explores the early ​’90s phenomenon, which saw a thriving culture of unlicensed parties take place across the UK’s warehouses, fields and squats, as well as the radical politics that the scene embodied. Key events including early acid house ​‘pay parties’, the infamous 1992 Castlemorton Common rave – the largest illegal rave in British history – and the 1994 Criminal Justice Act, which ultimately saw the decline of the decline of the movement.‘

‘I had been looking forward to Aaron Trinder’s documentary for a long time, and even though I had heard plenty of positive feedback from others, nothing could replace experiencing it for myself. It was well worth the wait. This film is joyful, inspiring, and nuanced, and provides a crystal clear view of times that we often spent in a euphoric cloud. The main achievement for me though was that, considering the subject is so multifaceted, the view of the scene is nothing short of panoramic. Trinder has wisely balanced this out by zooming in on pivotal aspects of the history. He, however, managed not to get too bogged down in the nitty gritty of the chronology. Figuring out the right dates for everything, working out which sound system or DJ was at which event, and making orderly lists, as I may have mentioned before, is perhaps the least pleasurable aspect of chronicling our scene, and Trinder thankfully seems to be of the same school of thought!‘

‘Free Party: A Folk History is a timely DIY indie film that follows the birth of the UK's free party movement from the late eighties and early nineties and the social, political and cultural impact it's had on our present times, with appearances from the founders of Nottingham’s very own DiY Soundsystem - but those of you who were lucky enough to go down to Broadway Cinema’s screening of the film back in November will already know this, of course. Director Aaron Trinder tells us about the process of obtaining footage for the documentary from a time before mobile phones and his own experiences of the free party movement…‘

‘An energetic film both serious and joyous, Free Party: A Folk History expertly documents overlooked events in rave history. Following the free party movement up to and including the infamous Castlemorton festival (known as the Woodstock of the rave scene) and its aftermath, viewers are informed about historical events while at the same time, invited to the party. Director Aaron Trinder delivers with a professional approach, yet brings the audience in by being faithful to its subject. The music, interviews, photos, and video footage all contribute to evoke an era defined by both fun and rebellion. An engaging watch.‘

‘I really enjoyed watching this, it caught lots of pieces of the history of that time. Recommended viewing if you can see it. The way they've managed to mesh together all the many forces and groups that made this amazing time happen. It's also very important that it draws the links to the forces that put a stop to it, while replacing it with very little.‘

‘In a new documentary called Free Party: A Folk History, filmmaker Aaron Trinder covers a period of time that predates the coining of the term ‘experience economy’ by 8 years, and a community that would baulk at it more than anyone else: the hardcore ravers of 1990 who were already fighting against the commercialisation of their culture.‘

‘All they wanted was the freedom to party. The State saw them as the enemy within. A timely DIY indie film that follows the birth of the UK’s free party movement from the late 80s and early 90s and the social, political and cultural impact it’s had on our present times. Many Tories believed the movement’s DIY anti-consumerist lifestyles, prophetic environmental, radical, direct action anti-road protest and animal welfare ethos threatened the foundations of their neoliberal era State. The film explores the inception of the movement, a meeting between urban ravers and the new age travellers during Thatcher’s last days in power, and the explosive years that followed, leading to the infamous Castlemorton free festival in 1992 – the largest ever illegal rave, which provoked the drastic change of the laws of trespass with the notorious introduction of the Criminal Justice Act in 1994.‘