In this interview, Clash Magazine speaks to Luke Mitchell, the creative force behind Boomtown Fair, ahead of the festival's 2026 edition in Hampshire. Billed as a "Radical Redesign", this year's event expands the festival's fictional cityscape back out into the surrounding hills, valleys and woodland after previous post-Covid years saw it compressed around the central Downtown area, with the popular Lion's Den stage also returning.

Mitchell traces his passion for elaborate world-building back to childhood, from building sandcastles and later working in carpentry, through to constructing speakers and party sets, and finally masterminding Boomtown's vast, immersive world of stages, storylines, actors and hidden sidequests. He cites fantasy works such as Harry Potter, His Dark Materials and Tolkien as key influences, and credits early-morning meditation with helping him visualise the festival's sprawling design. He also urges attendees to venture beyond headline stages into the festival's smaller, intricately detailed district spaces, created by underground art and music collectives from across the UK, describing these unexpected discoveries as often more memorable than the main billed performances.