Creamfields, the British Star

At the word Creamfields the heart skips a beat and shivers run down the spine of every unseasoned raver. This is no surprise — after all, England's main open-air, drawing 40,000 people every year, is known the world over. Since its appearance in 1998, dozens of the most famous DJs and musicians have taken part in it. In continental Europe, perhaps only the Dutch Mysteryland and the German Nature One (the latter, admittedly, lasts a whole weekend) can rival it in the number and calibre of artists.
Creamfields is traditionally held in Liverpool on the site of the former Speke aerodrome, when all of Britain celebrates the summer bank holiday (August Bank Holiday), and it runs from three in the afternoon until six in the morning. The festival is the brainchild of the promoter team that created the club brand Cream.

The festival's geography truly staggers the imagination — besides Foggy Albion, the festival has been held in Spain (Andalusia), Ireland (at the racecourse in the town of Punchestown), Argentina (Buenos Aires), Turkey (Istanbul), Mexico (Mexico City), the Czech Republic (Prague) and Chile (Santiago). Creamfields also takes place in Brazil (where it has been held since 2001 in the city of São Paulo; last year the festival lasted 17 hours, and more than 65,000 people attended it), Poland (Warsaw), and in 2005, through the efforts of the promoter group Organised Kaos, it reached Moscow too.

Creamfields in Spain

In 2006 Creamfields moved its venue to the Daresbury estate, near the town of Warrington in Cheshire, and only a 25-minute drive from the old site. The rave unfolded across nine dance floors, where such artists performed as: Prodigy, Goldfrapp, Tiesto, Paul Van Dyk, Paul Oakenfold, Ferry Corsten, Armin Van Buuren, Erick Morillo, David Guetta, Harry Choo Choo Romero, Tiga, Roger Sanchez and many, many others.

The forefather of the open-air, as already mentioned, is the club Cream, or rather the team standing behind that brand. Despite its worldwide fame, far from everyone knows that Cream is housed within the walls of the Liverpool nightclub Nation. It was founded by James Barton and is one of Britain's most famous night venues. The club began its life as a "weekly Saturday" party with house music within the walls of the aforementioned Nation. It managed to survive in that format for 10 years — from October 1992 to June 2002. During that time, such stars as Paul Oakenfold (who was resident from 1997 to 1999), Paul van Dyk and Sasha took part in its parties, and monsters of the electronic scene such as The Chemical Brothers performed exclusive sets at them.
The Nation complex, where Cream's parties take place, consists of three rooms, which accordingly hold three different dance zones, differing in shape and size. The main dance floor holds up to 1000 people, another 700 or so fit in the annexe, but the most of all — 1300 — in the club's courtyard.

Cream's main resident from its founding right to the very end was Paul Bleasdale. However, after the club's Saturday parties ceased, he played at the club's events only twice — the first time on the main dance floor for the club's tenth anniversary in 2002, and then in the courtyard on Boxing Night held that same year, after which he withdrew from club affairs. That said, his tracks can be heard on the compilation Cream Anthems, released in 1997, as well as on the 1994 Essential Mix of his colleague, the club's resident Andy Carroll.

Creamfields in Spain

Cream continues to hold its parties at the old venue to this day, usually at least four times a year — at Easter, on the First of May, in October/November for the annual celebration of its birthday, and for the special event Boxing Night. Besides this, the club throws its parties at various points around the globe. The parties at the club Amnesia on Ibiza enjoy particular popularity. At Nation itself, ever since the Saturday night became vacant, other promoters' events have been going full swing. The most famous of them today are Godskitchen, Chibuku, MTV and Yo-Yo.

But the festival and the club events aren't all the Cream brand has to boast of. It also includes the bar BabyCream, located in one of Liverpool's docks. A bar of the same kind exists in another British city — Leeds. And as befits any modern club brand, Cream has its own record label, releasing any number of compilations a year. One of the latest gems to come out on their label was the triple album Cream Summer 2006, which, in the opinion of Ministry of Sound, is an absolute "must-have" for all lovers of dance music.