Words by James Lear<\/em>, photos courtesy of Khroma Collective and GALA festival<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s safe to say the suspension of live music during the COVID pandemic has caused frustration for both promoters and punters alike. However, with everyone eager to get back into the swing of things, what better place to start a cultural renaissance than a small, woodland haven in the middle of Peckham?<\/p>\n\n\n\n GALA festival celebrates the history of dance music in London, so it was no surprise that this line-up boasted some of the very best names in British club culture such as, Dan Shake, Midland, Korn\u00e8l Kov\u00e0cs, Mr Scruff, Jayda G and Motor City Drum Ensemble. These heavyweights of house, techno and disco were juxtaposed with some of the best local talents in jazz, neo-soul and hip-hop. The Rye stage shone throughout the weekend and gave the festival much needed variety if you needed respite from the continuous four-on-the-floor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Under the current circumstances, the UK governments traffic light guidelines would have surely complicated maintaining a coherent festival line-up. Leon Vynehall, Overmono and Saoirse were all brought in last minute to cover for unforeseen cancellations, but the program flowed seamlessly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Just less than a week had passed since \u201cfreedom day\u201d, yet the careful management of negative lateral flow test admission left festival go-ers free to forget about the pandemic and find themselves in and amongst one of the most convivial crowds I\u2019ve seen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rain inevitably made an appearance, however after a long year-and-a-half of lock downs and live streams, dancing in the array of elements thrown our way brought out the \u201cHallelujah\u2019s\u201d and \u201cHail Mary\u2019s\u201d from the crowd around me.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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