Suffolk’s renowned music festival, Latitude, is unique to other festivals for many reasons; whether it’s the idyllic location set in a whimsical forest, its focus on the creative arts and ethereal performances, or simply those that choose to attend – it’s always special. However, this year, the weekend was even more profound.
As part of the government’s Covid Research Programme, Latitude marked the beginning of mass gatherings, and therefore, it wasn’t just Suffolk watching, but the whole country. In fact, over 40,000 people headed to Henham Park, just outside of Southwold. Amongst those, were Sammy & Kelcy, members of OutLoud Music’s New Gen group, who had been asked to perform.
I spoke to Kelcy, a rapper, who performed some of her original material, about attending the festival and her experience on stage.
“Latitude was the first big music Festival which I’ve been to. The experience was amazing as so many people were just enjoying themselves and not caring about what others were doing”.
Kelcy was asked to perform when Creative Nation reached out to ICM looking for talented young people. Kelcy said she was “left speechless” when she found out and added “I would never have imagined myself in such a position”.
Kelcy performed on the Inbetweeners stage, a space dedicated to young people and discovering their upcoming talent. Located in a woodland area of the Park, the space brought together people interested in music, media, art and fashion. For Kelcy, this was her first performance on an actual stage, and adds “I was not expecting myself to be as confident as I was. I was really happy with how I did and the reaction I got from it.”
Alice Whitney, director of Creative Nation said
“It was such a pleasure to have Sammy and Kelcy join us on our new stage at Latitude InBetweeners this July. Both controlled the stage with confidence and professionalism, we were all blown away with the consciousness of their lyrics and their flow”.
Kelcy says that it was thanks to the support she received from ICM that equipped her confidence that allowed her to perform at such a prestigious event “Being part of New Gen really helped, I never thought I’d be able to perform like that.”
Angelle Joseph, a tutor of New Gen, said she was “so proud” of everything Kelcy and the rest of New Gen had achieved “especially given how difficult the past year has been”. As with many groups, at the beginning of lockdown, New Gen also had to adapt to remote learning, making this achievement even more monumental.
Watch clips of both Sammy and Kelcy performing below:
New Gen is a project of Out Loud Music, in partnership with ICM, and made possible thanks to generous funding from The National Lottery. You can get involved with the project via the OutLoud website.