Secret Garden Party

Secret Garden Party is a music and arts festival on the grounds of a Georgian farmhouse, in Abbots Ripton, Cambridgeshire, near Huntingdon. There are lakes, a river and gardens. Freddie Fellowes started it in 2002, as a party for friends. In 2004 he opened it with James Whewell. Fellowes calls himself Head Gardener and often DJs. It carried no sponsorship. On the lake they burn a large wooden sculpture. At the main stage there has been a paint fight. Drones have also flown above that stage.

In its first run it won the UK award for best small festival in 2005 and in 2008, and for best medium festival in 2011. In 2016 The Loop tested drugs on the grounds. It was the first festival in the country to do it, and the Association of Independent Festivals gave it the Act of Independence award. Secret Productions, with the Thai company Scratch First, produced the first Wonderfruit, in Thailand. On 28 February 2009 there was a ball, the Valentines Bacchanalia Ball, at the Dex Club in Brixton, London. Lily Allen played the second year. Metronomy came back for nearly a decade until they led the close. Fat Freddy's Drop and Chase and Status have also come back several times.

From 21 to 24 July 2016 the theme was The Gardeners Guide To The Galaxy, at Mill Hill Field. Air and Caribou led. Maribou State replaced Primal Scream. The bill also listed Milky Chance, Shura, Dua Lipa, The Temper Trap, Beardyman, Bicep, David Rodigan, Hot 8 Brass Band, Beans on Toast, La Femme, The Japanese House, Band of Skulls, Field Music and Teleman. There were 15 live music stages and 6 DJ stages. On the grounds there was a floating dance floor, a pub open all day and night, woodland parties through the day and night, boats on the lake, mud wrestling and a mermaid school.

The first series closed from 20 to 23 July 2017. About 30,000 people came through. At the festival's peak the figure given is 35,000. The bill for that close listed Crystal Fighters, Metronomy, Toots and the Maytals, Wild Beasts, Kate Nash, Fickle Friends, Peaches and Will Joseph Cook. On 2 March 2017 it had already been said that this would be the last. After that there was a five-year pause.

It returned from 21 to 24 July 2022, with the tickets sold out, on turning twenty. On Friday the 22nd the main stage listed Alice Phoebe Lou at 18:00, Dry Cleaning at 19:30 and Easy Life at 21:00. On Saturday the 23rd, CMAT at 13:45, Isaac Stuart at 15:15, Orla Gartland at 16:30, Jade Bird at 18:00, SG Lewis at 19:30, M.O at 21:00 and The Spectacle at 22:00. On Sunday the 24th, the SGP Orchestra at 14:15, Faint Fight at 15:10, David Rodigan at 15:30, Gentleman's Dub Club at 17:00, Ibibio Sound Machine at 18:30 and Elder Island at 20:00. From 20 to 23 July 2023 the theme was science fiction, with more than ten stages of live music and DJs. Underworld, The Libertines and Fat Freddy's Drop led. Also on the bill were Fabio and Grooverider, De La Soul, Róisín Murphy, 2manydjs, Leftfield and Peaches. That year it became a social enterprise: at least 65 percent of the profit went to groups that work on rehabilitation through the arts.

From 26 to 28 July 2024 the Roots edition was set, with a maximum capacity of 10,000, and the focus on bands that do not yet fill a big bill. Ren announced a show of his own, the first in five years, and bought some day passes. Public Enemy has played the main stage. Fellowes said he wanted a more intimate show and to give the slots back to new talent.